


Pyromania

by AchillesTheseus



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Marvel Universe, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 37,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesTheseus/pseuds/AchillesTheseus
Summary: The Avengers need assistance with a new threat, so Fury calls in an old friend. They have a hard time working with a new team member as they can't even get along with each other.
Relationships: Avengers Team & Reader, Avengers Team/Reader, Bruce Banner & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, Natasha Romanov (Marvel) & Reader, Steve Rogers & Reader, Thor (Marvel) & Reader, Tony Stark & Reader, Wanda Maximoff & Reader
Comments: 74
Kudos: 395





	1. Old Acquaintance

You walked into your bar with a crate of new glasses. They broke easier than you thought, meaning you had been running out. Your bartender offered to help you, but you waved him off as you entered the backroom. Placing the crate down you then went back out to get another, but as you walked past the bar you saw a figure with a baseball cap sitting on one of the stools by themselves. You didn’t think much of it until you noticed the drink by their side. 

“It’s been years and you still order the same thing,” You said as you walked behind the bar. You nodded to your bartender, telling him that you had this costumer covered, and he should get the rest of the supplies. 

The figure took off the baseball cap revealing the eyepatch on his left eye. “It’s comforting when some things don’t change.” 

“Some habits are hard to shake,” you agreed. “What brings you here Nick?” 

Nichols J. Fury, former Shield director, and old acquaintance. You hadn’t seen him in years yet here he was sitting at your bar having a drink. 

“Can’t I visit an old friend?” he asked taking a sip of his drink. 

“You don’t do anything without a reason.” You served yourself a drink. 

“I suppose that’s true.” You both drank in silence for a bit. “I have a proposition.” 

You laughed, “Straight to the point, good.” 

“I want you to get back into action.” 

“I’m retired,” You chugged the last of your drink and then started cleaning the glass. “Plus, I can’t. Shield is gone, done, kaput.” 

“The Avengers aren’t,” he told you. The Avengers, you knew of them. Fury’s star team that had saved New York from aliens. They had also saved Sokovia from a threat they had created, though many would disagree, as the state of the country was far from being considered saved. After that, they had gone through a rough patch that had caused them to disband. The Sokovia accords brought out a lot of dirty secrets and caused some damage to their trust. 

“Isn’t half the team considered criminals?” you asked. Captain America and everyone who opposed the accords had gone on the run. A year has passed since then, and there have been rumors that renegotiations have started up and Cap and his band of rogues could go back home. You honestly didn’t think it would go anywhere. 

“Renegotiations have finished,” Fury responded as if reading your mind. “The Sokovia accords no longer asks for enhanced individuals to register themselves. The restrictions limiting individuals to only act in their own country are not to be enforced in cases of extreme need. Artificial intelligence is still restricted, and the Avengers do not operate under the United Nations, instead, they work with them.” 

“Sounds like bullshit,” you said after he finished listing off the updated terms of the accords. 

“Everyone who signs now does not have to face consequences and has immunity.” 

“Seems like everyone gets a happy ending.” 

“It’s going to take time for them to be a team again, and even then, they’ll never be the same.” Fury took the last swig of his drink. 

“So why do you want me to join, aren’t they dysfunctional already? Also, last I remembered you didn’t want me on your special little team anyways.” In your distant Shield days, you had been there when Fury started picking his candidates for the Avengers initiative. You had been considered but, in the end, were rejected. 

“You were a ticking time bomb,” he bluntly said. “You didn’t work well with others and had little self-control.” 

“Ouch,” you laughed but his words did sting. “What makes you think I’ve changed? For all you know I’m still unstable.” 

“You’ve matured,” he smiled. Fury wouldn’t admit but he had been fond of you when you had joined Shield. You had been mischievous and stubborn, but you did one hell of a job. You were one of the best, but one wrong mission and shit started hitting the fan for you. You weren’t yourself and thus it affected your work. You finally decided you had enough and put Shield behind you, Fury helped you destroy your past although it cost him one of his best. He kept track of you and watched how you came to terms with who you are and bettered yourself. That’s why he thinks you’re ready to join the team. 

“Why not call me before? You could’ve used some help when Shield fell, or when Sokovia was literally floating in the air.” 

“What happened with Shield happened fast, some tough decisions had to be made. And when it came to the Sokovia incident I already had too much faith in the team. But now I know they’ll need someone with your expertise.” Fury placed a file on the counter with the word classified printed on the front in red bold letters. “You’ve lived through this.” 

You knew once you opened that file you were walking back into the life you had left behind. You didn’t have to, you hadn’t left any family or friends behind, you could ignore it and continue to live peacefully in your bar. 

But your curiosity got the best of you. You opened the file and just reading the title you knew you were hooked. “Damn you, Nick,” you told him knowing you would have to agree now. 

Fury paid his bill and then put on his hat. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

You watched as he walked out of the bar leaving you with the file in your hands. You took out the plane ticket hidden between the sheets and tucked into your pocket. You then took out a cigarette. Your bartender came out of the backroom and offered you a lighter. You told him you were fine, and as he turned away you snapped your fingers and a flame lit at the end of your thumb. You used it to light your cigarette and then snapped to make it go out. 

“Let’s see if these Avengers are brave enough to play with fire.”


	2. Introductions

“This isn’t going to work,” Tony said as he watched the hologram displayed on the table. 

“You have to have some faith in it,” Steve told him. 

Stark scoffed but Steve let it go as to not start an argument. Since he and the people who sided with him came back to the compound tensions have been high. Though there haven’t been any physical fights it wouldn’t take much to incite one at this point. 

Clint adjusted his hearing aid and then leaned back in his seat. “This guy has been one step ahead of us for the past few days, why do you think it’ll be any different this time?” 

“Fury said he can get someone with insider information,” Steve told him. 

They’ve been chasing an arms dealer for a month now. Somehow, he had managed to get his hand on Chituri weaponry and made it easier for humans to use. The team had dealt with hundreds of these guys before but unlike the rest, this one has managed to outrun them at every turn. It was becoming increasingly frustrating.   
“Can we trust his word,” Wanda asked. Fury was known to keep information to himself, even when he was out of a job he failed(refused) to share vital details. 

“If Fury says he got someone, he’s got someone. Is that person going to help us? Now that’s the question,” Clint told her.

“Let’s find out shall we,” a new voice spoke. Everyone turned to see Fury standing by the door. He walked in and moved aside for someone to walk in. “This is (Y/N) (L/N). They will be assisting you with your current assignment.” 

“Son of a bitch,” Clint murmured as he looked at you standing casually with a cigarette in your mouth. To him, it was like seeing a ghost walk in. 

You looked at the archer and smiled, “Barton. It’s been a while.” 

“You two know each other?” Natasha asked. 

“We worked together on a few missions. The craziest person I’ve ever worked with.” You two hadn’t been close, but you both had some sort of respect for each other. “I thought you were dead.” 

You shrugged, “I needed to get away for a while.” 

“So, you faked your death?” 

“Where do you think I got the idea from?” you gestured towards Fury. 

“When (Y/N) worked in Shield they had a mission go wrong, it forced them to go into hiding,” Fury explained, “I was the one who suggested they fake their death to help cover their tracks.” 

“Always one for theatrics,” Tony commented. “What was the mission?” 

“None of your business,” you told him bluntly. Tony raised an eyebrow at your response. He wasn’t offended he appreciated the straightforwardness. 

Steve cleared his throat and walked up to you. He offered you a handshake, “Thank you for agreeing to help us with this. I hope we can-” he coughed as he inhaled some smoke from your cigarette. “Do you mind?” 

You gave one more puff before putting it out on a conveniently placed ashtray on the table. It was just collecting dust as nobody here smoked. At least with you here, it would get some use. 

“As I was saying,” Steve continued, this time a little more annoyed than before. “I hope we can find a way to work harmoniously together.” 

You reluctantly shook his hand, which he noted was weirdly warm, and then stepped towards the hologram on the table. “For now, you could just fill me in on what you’re doing.” 

“Of course.” Steve passed you a file and spoke as you flipped through it. “Johnathon Monroe, disgraced Shield agent, now dangerous arms dealer. He was kicked out of Shield after selling out a colleague but fled before he could be detained. He was under the radar for many years, most likely building up an arsenal he now sells to criminals and factions of Hydra.” 

Hydra, of course, you knew they were back in the picture. In fact, they had never left, they just stood in the shadows pulling the strings. You heard they weren’t strong once Shield went down and Strucker died. With no leader to rally under, Hydra broke off into factions that now fought amongst themselves for control. They were weaker and easy to pick off. 

“What’s your issue,” you asked. Fury had told you the Avengers had been having trouble with this assignment, but you didn’t see what was so complicated. “Monroe isn’t exactly a genius, why haven’t you caught him?” 

“He’s good at escaping,” Natasha answered. “Every time we have him cornered in one of his warehouses he manages to get away.” 

To the Avengers, Monroe is like an escape artist. Once they had him cornered in a small room with no exits just to have him disappear on them. It was frustrating, to say the least. 

“How do you know Monroe,” Natasha asked. 

“We were partners,” you said bitterly. “Worked on hundreds of missions together.” 

“Two of the best,” Fury added. You and Monroe worked well together. You used to be impulsive, but Monroe knew how to reel you back. Besides Barton and Romanoff, you two were the best duo he had ever seen. 

“What happened?” Clint asked. 

You shrugged, “We had a misunderstanding.” 

That was an understatement. You had once trusted Monroe with your life, now if you were to see him in person you wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. 

“Anything you know that can help us catch him?” Steve asked. “We have a spy on the inside that lets us know his location but that’s as close as we’ve gotten to him.” 

“I can do you one better Captain,” you said, “I can catch him for you.” 

“A little cocky don’t you think,” Tony asked. 

“No one in this room wants to see the bastard caught more than me,” you admitted. “To be honest he’s the only reason I got out of retirement. The man has a lot to answer for. So yeah I’m a little confident I can get him for you.” 

“Then what will you need from us?” 

“Just resources and information. When it comes to the dirty work, I can take care of it.” 

“We need him alive,” Natasha told you. “He has information that could prove useful, like the name of his buyers.” 

“Got it, alive,” you smirked. She never said you couldn’t hurt him. 

“Then we have an understanding,” Steve offered you another handshake which you gladly took this time. If you get to make Monroe pay for what he did, you’ll gladly play nice for now. 

Steve declared the meeting over and everyone who attended piled out of the room. Clint walked up to you with Natasha by his side. He gave you a friendly hug which you returned and he then introduced you to Natasha. You noticed her size you up before she shook your hand. Looks like you weren’t the only keeping your guard up around here. 

“Want to hit the mini-bar with us? We could catch up,” Clint offered with a friendly smile. 

You glanced at Fury who was lingering by the door. “I’ll catch up with you there. We need to talk for a minute.” 

“Of course.” 

Once they were both out of the room Fury sat with you at the table. You flipped through the file Steve had left you as Fury spoke. “You’re going to have to keep your end of the bargain if you want to find Monroe.” 

You took out a mugshot of Johnathon from the file and held it up. He hadn’t changed much since you last saw him. He kept his black hair in a military crew cut and now had wrinkles in the corner of his green eyes. He had some stubble on his face and a scar on his bottom lip. You remember how he got that scar. He had gotten caught during a mission. While being interrogated they cut his lip badly with a knife before you managed to save him. When you were patching him up afterward, he told you he would have to pay you back. Little did you know he would pay you back a few months later by selling you out and leaving you to die. 

The mere memory made your blood boil in anger. You felt your hands get hot and suddenly the photo of Monroe burst into flames. It burned till it was nothing but a pile of ash on the table. 

You turned to Fury who had been observing your reaction the whole time. “They could do whatever they want with him, but when they’re done it’s my turn.”


	3. Tricks

You walked towards the mini bar after your chat with Fury. You needed a drink and because Clint was the only person you knew, he seemed like the best person to have one with. You had to get directions from Stark’s AI as the compound was a lot bigger than you expected. When you got to your destination you were surprised to see more people than just the two ex-spies. Tony Stark, and Wanda Maximoff, you had met at the meeting but there were two other individuals you hadn’t become acquainted with yet. 

“I believe I was promised a drink,” you told Clint. 

He grinned and instead of a stool, he led you behind the bar that wasn’t as small as you first thought. “I was hoping you would make us a few. You still make a mean martini, right?” 

“I don’t own a bar for nothing,” you told him. You then turned to Natasha, giving her a grin. “What will the lovely lady be having?” 

She grinned looking at the various bottles, but from all her choices she chose the most typical Russian drink, “I’ll just take some vodka shots.” 

“I’m more of a Tequila person myself, but each to their own.” 

You prepared their drinks as well as making yourself a few shots. You noticed Stark sitting to the side a fair distance from everyone else. Knowing he was one of the honchos in the team it wouldn’t hurt to be on his good side. You whistled to get his attention. “Hey, Stark, seeing as you probably paid for everything, why don’t I make you a drink?” 

Tony eyed the two spies on the stools and then smiled at you. “I don’t drink as much anymore. I appreciate the offer, maybe next time.” 

You watched as he stood up and left the room. Then one of the guys who hadn’t been at the meeting sat on another of the stalls. “Don’t mind Stark, he seems to always be in a mood these days.” 

“Knock it off Wilson,” Natasha told him. Although she left Tony when he thought she had his back, she never meant it personally. She still saw him as a friend although he may not. 

“Alright,” Sam left it at that so she wouldn’t get mad at him. He then turned back to you, “The name is Sam Wilson, and I will have a beer if that’s not too much to ask.” 

You leaned against the bar. “Sorry Sam, but those are going to cost you.” 

“They got it free,” he said pointing at his friends. 

“Cause we’re friends,” Clint defended. 

“Well, I can be friendly too.” Sam gave you a wink making you chuckle. 

“Alright, I can make an exception.” You handed him a beer that he gladly accepted. You looked over at Wanda and her friend. “What about you two? Limited time offer.” 

Wanda shrugged and approached the bar, the other guy following her lead. There were no stools left so he was forced to just stand at her side. Looking at him closer the most obvious thing was that his skin was a dark red. He had no hair and had a bright stone in the middle of his forehead. As weird as he looked you figured it was best not to comment on his appearance. 

“He’s an android,” Wanda told you. You had heard she had powers over the mind, so you didn’t know if she had read yours or just guessed from your reaction to her friend. 

“My name is Vision,” the android said. “I know my appearance can be off-putting at first, but I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” 

You smiled and offered him a handshake, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen weirder.” 

After shaking his hand, you tried to take it back, but he held on. Everyone looked at him weirdly as he looked down at your hand. Wanda nudged him, “This is when you let go, Vis.” 

“Seriously man,” Sam added. 

Instead of doing as he was told Vision looked up at you concerned. “Your body temperature is extremely high to be considered safe. Increased blood flow, infection, or other medical issues could cause this. You should head to the med bay so they can have a look at you.” 

Wanda was already coming up with an excuse for Vision’s behavior in her head as he finally let go of your hand. Though it didn’t seem like she would need it as you started to laugh. Everyone looked at you confused. You continued to laugh until you just ended up looking at Vision amused. 

You reached into your pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. You popped one in your mouth and lit it with a snap of your fingers. “They probably wouldn’t know where to start.” 

“You’re a mutant,” Natasha said. She had just watched you light a cigarette with your bare hands, there weren’t very many other explanations for that.  
“No,” you told her, “I wasn’t born with it.” 

“Freak accident,” Clint suggested, “We have a couple of those here.” 

“Not precisely,” you stretch out your hand and a small flame appears in your palm. You let it dance around your fingers before flicking your wrist, extinguishing it. “It was done purposely but not willingly.” 

“Guessing it had something to do with that mission that went wrong,” Natasha deduced. “Why would Fury let someone like you go?” 

It’s true when you obtained your powers Fury preached about all the good you could do with them. The truth was that it wasn’t like that. You had no control and the process that had led to your transformation had left you with mental scars that made you act erratically. You had to beg Fury to let you go for you to heal and learn to control them, and you wouldn’t hurt anyone in the process. Finally, he agreed it was best if you disappeared so no one could try to use you to their advantage. 

“It was for the best,” you told her. “I wasn’t of use to anyone at the time.” 

“Does it hurt?” Sam asked. 

You shrugged, “Nah. I don’t feel anything.” 

“Know any tricks?” Wanda nudged him. “Ow! I’m curious!” 

You chuckled, “I know some tricks.” 

From flaming shots to spitting fire, you had a few tricks up your sleeve. You left your audience thoroughly entertained. You stopped once you started to feel tipsy from the alcohol. Not everyone was immune to fire, so you didn’t risk it. 

“Impressive,” Natasha commented as she watched you do a dramatic bow. 

“Thank you, thank you. Amazing I know,” you responded. 

Natasha didn’t know if it was the alcohol coursing through you or just the positive environment, she just noticed you are carefree at the moment. Before you joined her and Clint, her friend had told her a few stories of you working together. The person he described in them was so happy and energetic she didn’t think it was you, but right now she could see the resemblance. 

“Looks like you all are getting along,” Fury commented walking up to the bar. He had heard laughing on his way here and he decided to investigate as that wasn’t a sound, he often heard in the compound anymore. 

“Fury,” you saluted from behind the bar. 

Fury couldn’t help but grin as he watched you sway slightly with a smile on your face. It was nice to know that mischievous agent from so long ago was still in there somewhere. He also noticed the smiles on the other’s faces and it just made it better. 

“Getting drunk already?” he teased, “You have an assignment tomorrow, just came in, and all of you have to be sober and ready.” 

There was a collective groan from everyone except you. You just poured yourself another shot. 

“That’s a shame,” you told them, “good luck with that.” 

“You too (L/N),” Fury told you. “The sooner you get used to working with a team again the better. Let’s get you to bed to sleep this off.” 

You scowled playfully at him, “What am I, a child?” 

“You heard your father,” Clint said in a mocking tone, “Off to bed!” 

You chuckled, “Alright guess that means the bar is closed. Goodnight ladies and gentlemen.” 

After saying your goodnights, you followed Fury to where you would be staying in the meantime. It was a plain empty spare room that would be fine for now. You didn’t plan on staying very long anyway so no point in decorating. 

“Was that all for show or do you plan on making friends here?” Fury asked as you walked into the room. 

“What is this? Preschool?” you asked. “Want me to make friends at school?” 

“It wouldn’t hurt. God knows you need some.” 

You kicked off your shoes and fell onto the bed looking up at the ceiling. You couldn’t help but groan in satisfaction, the mattress was a hundred times better than yours. Fury just rolled his eyes. 

“Listen,” you told him, “I’m going to be here awhile. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun. But friends? I don’t do that anymore. Look how well that did me last time.” 

“Not everyone is like Monroe.” 

You stood up and glared at him. That name always puts you in a bad mood. “Doesn’t matter. I came here to do a job, that's it. Having a few shots with them doesn’t mean I’m going to trust them suddenly.” 

Fury snorted and turned to leave. “Whatever you say. Goodnight.” 

Once he was gone you laid back down and tried to get some sleep. You had a big day ahead of you tomorrow.


	4. Backup

You tugged on the collar of your old tactical suit as you sat in the Avengers Quinjet. It had been a while since you’ve worn it and was a bit tight in some places. It was your only choice because apparently jeans and a T-shirt isn’t a suitable mission attire. 

“If it’s that uncomfortable,” Clint commented from the pilot seat, “you should let Tony design you something new. He can even make it fireproof.” 

After the show, you put on at the bar yesterday it didn’t take long for news of your powers to spread through the team. A lot of them asked you questions while others seemed to just glance at you from afar. 

“I’m good, don’t worry about it,” you told him. 

“We’re approaching our destination,” Natasha called out to the group from her seat next to Barton. 

Steve put his Shield on his back and stood from his seat. “Everyone knows what to do?” 

How could they not, you asked yourself. Rodgers has gone over it a hundred times since the plane took off. You were starting to contemplate just jumping out. 

“You know your role?” Rodgers called you out. He noticed you spacing out and just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. 

“Provide backup, I got it, Cap,” you responded. Being new you would hang back and just supply support. Their goal was to gather as much intel as they could but instead of a subtle approach, they’re going in guns blazing. You can respect that. 

As the plane landed in a secure area you all piled out and headed to your assigned sections. Wanda went off with Hawkeye and Falcon while you followed Captain and Black Widow. Hawkeye was the first to act as he took out the guards around the perimeter. Then Falcon started to take those camping out on the roof. 

There was a loud alarm coming from the building, signaling that your cover was blown, and the enemy was alerted of your presence. Hawkeye’s team would take care of those on the outside while Cap leads you inside. 

You wouldn’t deny the Avengers knew what they were doing when it came to a fight. Black Widow could take out enemies twice her size without breaking a sweat, and Captain America was a tank with that Shield. Even Maximoff was intimidating in battle as you saw her fling men like ragdolls outside. 

“Are you thinking about helping anytime soon, (L/N)?” Natasha asked as she bashed someone’s head with the end of her gun. 

You simply walked over the body as it dropped to the ground. “Sure, when you actually need it.” 

You all continued deeper into the building until you finally found the server room. Natasha got to work downloading as much information as she could while Steve and you stood guard. He kept looking around while you just leaned against the door frame smoking a cigarette. 

You were starting to zone out from how bored you were until you felt the cigarette get yanked out of your mouth. Slightly shocked you looked over at Rodgers who threw it on the ground and was stomping on it. 

“Are you even taking this seriously?” he asked annoyed. “Fury wanted to have you on this mission so you could help out, but so far you’ve done nothing.” 

“First of all, I don’t work for Fury anymore. I thought you didn’t either, but it seems you still like to keep your head up his ass. Second, I said I would help in catching Monroe, that’s all. I’m not here to make your life easier Captain,” you shot back. 

Steve was about to talk back but shouting outside the hall caught everyone’s attention. He looked out and then quickly pulled you in before shutting the door. Natasha paused what she was doing to check up on you two. “What’s happening?” 

“We’re surrounded,” Steve told her. “Twenty guys on each end, I’ll call for backup.” 

“They better get here quickly.” 

You heard pounding at the door as they tried to break it down from the other side. It was reinforced steel so that wouldn’t happen so easily. Natasha continued collecting data while Steve stood ready by the door. He had contacted the others through the comms, but they had their hands full. You stood by clenching your fist as they started to get warmer. While Steve looked at the door you noticed movement outside one of the few windows. As you got closer you noticed a distant figure aiming a weapon at the window. 

“Get what you can now,” you told Natasha. 

She looked at you confused, “What?! I need-” 

You pushed her and Steve into the far corner of the room, “Let’s go! Move!” 

“What’s-” Steve didn’t have time to ask what you were doing as something came crashing through the window. 

You pushed them down and used your body as a shield. There was a loud explosion in the room, and they could feel a wave of warmth wash over them. Steve opened his eyes and noticed fire all around and a huge hole in the wall. You got off them and helped them stand. They were unharmed except for some soot on their face. You, on the other hand, had a cut on your shoulder from getting hit by the debris, and part of the back of your suit had been burned off. Luckily, your skin was completely unharmed by the flames. 

“You got what you needed?” you asked Natasha. She nodded as she tried to shake the ringing out her ears. 

“Thanks,” Steve murmured as he dusted off his uniform. 

“Let’s just get out of here.” 

You ran through the hole in the wall that was now a shortcut to the hallways. You made sure to move the flames out of the way so your team could move safer. The enemies from before ran around the corner, but you easily cut them off by lighting their path on fire. It was a little funny seeing them jump back in fear. 

When you made it out the building you regrouped with the rest of the team and headed towards quinjet. Before you made it far you turned back to the building and flicked your wrist in its direction causing the flames inside to burn brighter and higher. That’s what they get for trying to kill you. 

Once the jet was in the air you leaned back in your seat as Natasha helped dress your wound. From everyone, you looked in the worst shape even though you did the least work. It was due to the fact the sleeves on your suit and a few patches on the back had burned off. Luckily enough survived that you weren’t sitting naked in front of everyone. 

Steve came over and sat by your side. “Thanks again, for helping us. We wouldn’t have seen it coming without you.” 

You waved him off, “Don’t worry about it.” 

He smiled and looked down at your arms that were now exposed. “Thought you used this suit before, why’d it burn so easily?” 

“I did when I was an agent. Not when I was able to make flames. I honestly thought it would last longer.” 

“Might have to look for something more durable. Don’t want you walking around naked on the battlefield,” Natasha smirked as she finished patching you off. 

You grinned at her, “Are you sure? It’s a pretty nice sight.” 

Everyone chuckled at your banter before a comfortable silence settled. You almost dozed off in your seat until you caught Clint’s eye in the rearview mirror. You stood up and walked to the side of the pilot chair. 

“So, about a new suit,” you told him, “You think Stark will make me one?” 

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 

*In a base on an island on the pacific* 

A man sits in his office looking over some papers spread out on his desk. Behind him a large window with the view of the shore. His office doors open and another man wearing a tactical suit and a gun slung over his shoulder walks in. 

“Mr. Monroe, we have news,” he announces. 

Monroe looks up from his work and gestures for the man to come closer. “This better be good.” 

“The warehouse we kept the records in was burned to the ground. We couldn’t save any merchandise and a lot of our data was stolen.” 

Monroe groaned as he covered his face with his hands. “Is it does damn Avengers? Why can’t they just leave my business alone? Don’t they have anything better to do?” 

“We believe they have a new member, sir.” His henchman places a surveillance photo in front of him. “They caused most of the damage to the warehouse.” 

Monroe looked at the picture but didn’t expect to see a familiar face. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked fondly at it. “They’re still alive.” 

“You know them, sir?” 

“We used to work together,” Monroe told him. “If that’s all you’re excused.” 

Once he was alone in his office, he leaned against his chair as he continued to stare at the photo in his hand. “See you soon old friend.”


	5. Testing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I copied the scene from Fantastic Four where they're testing out Johnny Storm's powers. He's like one of my favorites, but (Y/N)'s powers aren't exactly the same as his so they won't be an exact copy.

“Are you sure this is necessary, Stark?” You asked as you looked turned around in the metal box Stark and Banner had told you to stand in. It was big enough for you to move comfortably but didn’t take too much space in their lab. There was a small window where you could see the two scientists on the other side, but besides that, it was made of strong thick metal. You were wearing a simple hospital gown so your powers wouldn’t burn away any of your clothes. And if it did end up eating away at your current attire the two scientists won’t see anything from the shoulders down. 

“It’s the best way we can measure the extent of your powers. We can then design you a suit that will be able to withstand them,” Stark told you through a mic. 

“If this backfires, it’s not my fault,” you told him. 

“Okay so far your normal temperature is around a hundred which is equivalent to a high fever,” Dr. Banner explained, “Most people would be in a hospital by now.” 

“Aren't I lucky,” you joked. 

“Try activating your powers, the lowest you can,” Stark instructed. 

You clenched your fist warming them up enough that they started to glow. You could hear some beeping coming from their monitors and they wrote some things down. 

“Bring it up a level.” 

Your hands erupted in flames making the scientist's eyes widen in excitement. They started to press some more buttons and murmur to each other. 

“A little higher (Y/N).” 

The fire spread up your arms catching the top of your hospital gown on fire. Even with the thick metal wall between you, you couldn’t help but blush as you felt your clothes burn off. At least you weren’t in public. 

“Okay give me what you got,” Stark told you with a smile. 

“Are you sure we should be pushing them so far, Tony?” Bruce asked, sounding hesitant to continue. Though he found your powers interesting biologically speaking, he didn’t want to play with fire. Literally in your case. “I don’t know if the container can take it.” 

“Nonsense,” His lab partner replied. “This thing can withstand over a thousand degrees Fahrenheit. It’ll be fine.” 

“Careful what you wish for, Stark,” you teased. 

Your body suddenly burst into flames. Your hospital gown is reduced to ash on the ground. Flames enveloped your entire being, yet you haven’t even broken into a sweat. The screens outside were beeping an alarm as the temperature kept rising. 

“Their temperature should be enough to burn down a building yet they’re vitals are completely stable,” Bruce comments. 

“Damn this is a lot more than I expected,” Stark tells him. 

They both start to move back as they notice the walls of the container start to glow red. The room starts to feel uncomfortably warm as your temperature keeps rising. 

“Okay that’s enough, (Y/N),” Tony tells you, but he’s too far from the mic for you to hear. He looked over at Bruce and nodded at him. “Shut it down!” 

Bruce pressed an emergency button and some fire extinguishers activated spraying you. It surprised you and caused you to stumble to the ground. With your flames gone the temperature in the lab started cooling off. Bruce and Tony approached and found you sitting on the ground covered in foam. Luckily for you, the foam-covered your sensitive areas so they didn’t see much. 

You wiped some out of your face, “What was that?” 

“Well for one, you melted my containment box,” Tony said gesturing to the melted walls. “Second, your temperatures were rising so high you could have reached supernova.” 

“Cool?” 

“No, well kind of if you want to kill everyone on Earth one day.” 

“Tempting but I guess I’ll avoid going supernova.” You stood up but then became extremely aware of your lack of clothing and the two pairs of eyes on you. “You mind?” 

Bruce blushed and quickly turned around as Tony handed you a towel. You wrapped it around yourself and stepped out of the rubble that was once the containment box. The scientists started to ramble about the extent of your powers and where they could start designing you a suit. Bruce suggested a simple fireproof jumpsuit or coveralls, but Tony insisted on a proper tactical suit to provide efficient protection. 

As they discussed Natasha walked through the doors of the lab. She froze as she not only noticed the mess in the middle of the room but also your semi-nude state. “Do I even want to know what happened?” 

You wiped some foam out of your hair. “You didn’t miss much; I just almost burned the lab down.” 

“Glad to see you're making yourself at home.” 

When the scientist noticed her presence, Tony frowned and turned to one of the screens. Bruce smiled at her, “What brings you here Nat?” 

“I need help decrypting these files we found in the warehouse.” She glanced behind Banner. “I was hoping someone could help me.” 

Tony pretended to not hear until Bruce elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow, yeah just give them here.” 

“Hey Banner,” you said adjusting your towel, “You mind telling me where you put my clothes, I’m starting to feel a breeze.” 

“Oh, right, of course,” Bruce scurried off to get your things as Natasha and Tony laughed. When Bruce came back, he handed your belongings over and you went off to a corner of the lab to change. 

“Eyes on the screen Romanoff,” you teased as you put on your pants. 

“Not much to see,” she shot back. 

“Ouch.” Once you were dressed you walked over to the group as Tony worked on the files. “Those are the files you almost got yourself killed for?” 

“They could help us track Monroe’s warehouses faster. If we make progress in shutting them down, he’ll be forced to come out and handle the situation.” 

“You’re losing your touch, Romanoff,” Tony told her. “I would think something like this is child’s play for someone with your skills.” 

“Maybe I’m just out of practice.” 

With one last click of a button, Tony declared he was done and moved aside so Natasha could have a closer look. She started sifting through the information that seemed to range from pictures to coded messages. Seems even with Tony deciphering the files there were still a few hidden secrets. 

“I’ll go through this myself and set up a meeting in case I find anything. Thank you, Tony.” She smiled at the man and he couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Yeah, sure whatever.” 

Romanoff walked out of the lab and you cocked an eyebrow at Stark. “You can hold a grudge huh?” 

He narrowed his eyes at you, “Isn’t the only reason you’re here to get back at your old partner?” 

“Touche,” you responded. “Though Monroe was a backstabbing bastard. Romanoff, true she turned her back on you, but she came back, and she cares. But what do I know, I’m only here temporarily.” You walked out of the lab leaving the two scientists with much to talk about. 

You were heading to your room when you ran into someone on the way there. At first, you thought you had run into a wall until you looked up and noticed you were face to face with the Winter Soldier. Or the man who was previously known as the Winter Soldier. 

“My bad Barnes,” you told him as you both walked into the elevator. 

“It’s fine,” he murmured. You almost didn’t hear him speak. 

Three minutes or three years, you didn’t know how long this elevator ride was anymore. There was a tense silence between the two of you the whole time. You didn’t know why, just that you now really wanted to get out of there. Barnes seemed just as desperate. Finally, your savior came in the form of the ding signaling you had arrived at your floor. 

You quickly stepped out, but before the doors closed behind you Barnes called out your name. You looked back to see him sort of debating what he was going to say next. “Your...um… your shirt is backward.” And then the doors closed. 

You looked down to see your shirt was backward and rolled your eyes. If interacting with the team was going to be this awkward all the time you couldn’t wait to get out of here. 

You opened the door to your room planning to just collapse on your bed. Using your powers sometimes drains your stamina. A nice bath to help you cool off and a nap would help you relax, but your plans were put on hold as you noticed a certain witch sitting at the edge of your bed. 

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Ms. Maximoff?” you asked as you took out and lit a cigarette.

“I was hoping you can help me,” she told you, wringing her hands nervously. 

“With what exactly?” 

“On how you use your powers.” 

You looked at her genuinely confused. One of the strongest Avengers was sitting in front of you asking for help on her powers. You didn’t know whether to be honored or ask if this was a joke. Instead, you asked, “Why?” 

“Fury told me your powers weren’t so different from mine. That they could be altered by your emotions and that you disciplined yourself to control them, and use them at your will,” she answered, “He also said there is a theory that your powers come from the mind stone.” 

Memories of you strapped on a metal table as a bunch of sadistic doctors poke and prod you, flash through your mind. You could feel your hands start to grow warm, but you shake it off. “It’s just a theory Ms. Maximoff.” 

“Wanda,” she told you, “Just call me Wanda.” 

“Listen, Wanda, I’m not a teacher. I wouldn’t even know where to start-” 

“You don’t have to teach me anything,” she clarified, “I just want to hear what you do to help get them in control. Mine tends to spike when I am sad or even happy. Please.” 

You took a puff of your cigarette and rolled your eyes. “Fine, I guess I can fit it in my schedule.” 

“Thank you!” Wanda said bolting over to you. She wrapped her hands around your waist and pulled you into a hug. 

You had your hands up confused about what to do. In the end, you just patted her on the back. “Yeah okay. We can start tomorrow, I guess.” 

“Yes, that would be perfect.” She let go of you and walked out of your room. “See you tomorrow.” 

Once she was gone you moved over to your balcony and leaned against the railing. You put out your cigarette and looked out at the woods surrounding the compound. Seems like Fury is not so discreetly trying to get you involved with the Avengers. It feels like a meddling parent desperately trying to get their kid to socialize more. 

You sigh and run your hand through your hair. “I need to get out of here.”


	6. Sparring

Your back roughly hits the sparring mat and you get the wind knocked out of you. You cough as you pick yourself up and look at Wanda at the other side of the ring. “That went better than I thought.” 

“Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?” she asks, concerned. The two of you decided to spar in the gym so that you could get a close up of her powers. It wasn’t the best idea. 

“I’m just out of practice,” you tell her, “I haven’t sparred with someone in a while. You have.” 

“Steve and Natasha taught me how to fight in case I can’t rely on my powers.” 

You get up and shake off the blow. “You have the upper hand on me then. I haven’t been in a proper fight in years.” 

“It’s like riding a bike,” Clint comments as he and Natasha walk in. “You’ll get back into it.” 

“Or maybe you should cut down on the smoking. You sound like an elderly person with all the wheezing you’re doing up there,” Natasha teases. 

“Ha-ha, you’re hilarious,” you mock. You turn back to Wanda as the two ex-spies use the treadmills. “You can clearly hold your own against an enemy with or without your powers. What was the issue again?” 

“They can get out of control sometimes,” she explains, “I use too much force or not enough. Once I nearly threw a car at Bucky without meaning to.” 

You stayed quiet as she spoke. You noticed the tension in her posture and the shakiness of her voice. “What are you afraid of Wanda?” 

She hesitated, “That I’ll hurt someone.” 

You nodded and leaned against the ropes of the sparring ring. “I was afraid of the same thing. After I got my powers I had to be kept in a fireproof room where they would douse me with a hose every minute because the flames would get too big. Even when I stopped spontaneously combusting, I refused to leave the room because I thought it would just happen again.” 

“What helped you feel better” 

You grabbed your water bottle and took a large gulp before answering. “One day I just decided to not be afraid anymore.” 

Wanda looked at you confused. “That easy?” 

“I sat there and thought, why am I suffering? Why do I have to wake up in pain every day, while the bastards who did this to me are living their lives?” 

“So, you decided to get better out of spite?” 

“What better reason is there?” you grinned. “Our powers are connected to our emotions whether we like it or not. So, if you bottle up that fear instead of acknowledging it you're making yourself into a ticking time bomb.” 

“So, you just let all of your emotions out?” She shook her head, “I don’t think I could do that.” 

“I’m not saying you should burst into tears whenever you feel sad. Just that when you’re angry, let yourself be angry. If you’re sad, let yourself be sad. Holding back all those emotions is what’s making your powers act up. Like in that mission at the warehouse, you were letting out your aggression and that helped you have control of your powers.” 

“I didn’t think you were a very expressive person,” she teased trying to lighten the mood. 

You chuckled, “That doesn’t exactly mean I’m friendly or social, just means I say what’s on my mind.” 

“It’ll get you in trouble one day,” Clint cut in as he walked up to the ring. 

“I can’t help it if trouble follows me wherever I go.” 

“You two finished talking about your feelings?” Natasha tells you and Wanda. “I kind of want to see what (L/N) is made of.” 

She moves into the ring, taking Wanda’s place. You stretch your arms before taking a defensive stance. “Any rules before we start? Perhaps even a safe word?” 

She smiles, “No powers.” 

“You have my word.” 

She throws the first strike, but you dodge. “Come on Romanoff, I expected better from Sheild’s best.” 

She blocked your hits, “I can say the same to you.” 

With Wanda, you had allowed her to use some of her power, so you hadn’t lasted long. With Natasha, you were doing a lot better, though you could feel an ache in your muscles. You were out of the game for so long you never bothered to keep your skills up to date. You would add it to things you should get done. 

Natasha threw a kick to your abdomen forcing you against the ropes of the ring. You threw a punch, but she grabbed your fist and twisted your arm. She forced you to bend down and wrapped her legs around your neck, flipping you over. You were now on your back as she strangled you with her thighs and held your right arm. 

You desperately tapped the mat as Wanda and Clint laughed outside the ring. Natasha let you go, and you coughed as you rubbed your neck. “You live up to your reputation.” 

Natasha helped you up with a smile on her face, “You weren’t so bad. Definitely need some practice.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” You got out of the ring and reached for your pack of cigarettes. You headed outside to take a smoke. “I’ll be back.” 

“You need to quit,” Natasha called out. 

You gave her a wink before walking out the door. “And you need to mind your business.” 

You headed outside the building and leaned against the wall as you lit your cigarette. You watched some agents run past you in line as they chanted. It reminded you of your early Shield days when they would make you run around a track for hours. It was a pain but when your superiors would do an army cadence you and your friends would change the lyrics to annoy them. You smiled at the memory as you took a puff. 

“They told me you were getting some fresh air, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.” You turned to see Stark walk out of the door. He looked down at the cigarette in your hand making you roll your eyes. 

“Et Tu Stark?” You threw it to the ground and crushed it under your foot. “Are you here to lecture me about my unhealthy habits?” 

He snorted, “Wouldn’t mean much coming from the guy who used to have a glass of scotch before bed. No, I came here to give you this.” He pulled out a package he had been hiding behind his back and handed it to you. 

You stared at the box wrapped in neat brown paper and cocked an eyebrow. Tony shrugged, “The presentation was Bruce’s idea.” 

You tore into the packaging and stared at the contents. “You and Banner work fast.” 

“Do you like it?” 

You dropped the trash on the ground for a moment so that you could examine the tactical suit. The material it was made of looked to be the same as your old one, but the scientists assured you it would handle the extreme temperatures you were able to produce. You could also feel some subtle padding. When it came to the color scheme it was all black but had red stripes going down the seams.   
“Not bad. I’ll try to give it back in one piece.” 

“It’s a gift, you’re supposed to keep it,” Tony clarified. 

“Awful kind of you,” you said sincerely, “but what’s the catch?” 

“No catch. You help us, I help you. Simple as that.” 

You draped the suit over your arm and picked up the wrapping from the ground. “Nothing is as simple as that Stark. Everything comes with a price, what’s yours?” 

Tony stares at you for a second as if debating what to say. “Don’t know.” 

You watched as he walked back into the building. You had seen articles and news stories of Stark before he became Iron Man, they all described him the same way, a man who lived fast and dangerously. But from what you had seen he didn’t live up to that reputation, at least not anymore. 

You glance at the suit in your hands. “I’m going to have to keep an eye on your Stark.”


	7. Johnny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my favorite chapter but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ still hope you enjoy  
> (N/N)- nickname

“(Y/N). (Y/N). Wake up.” 

You open your eyes and yawn as you sit up. You had fallen asleep slouched on an office chair. You rubbed your eyes and looked over at who had woken you up. “Johnny? What time is it?” 

“It’s nearly ten,” Monroe answered smiling. He was sitting next to you in the meeting room in the Shield helicarrier. He was wearing his tactical suit and unlike you, he looked refreshed and in a good mood. “I would have woken you up earlier, but you needed the extra hours of sleep.” 

“We need to stop taking the night shift,” you told him stretching. You had sneaked into the meeting room to take a quick power nap that had ended up taking longer than expected. You and Monroe had been taking so many nighttime missions you barely had time to sleep. 

Monroe looked at you with amusement in his green eyes. “That would mean having to wake up early and we all know we won’t be able to do that.” 

“Got me there. What’s the assignment today?” 

“Extraction,” he answered with excitement. “Fury did not specify whether we had to be subtle or not.” 

“You don’t say?” you’re suddenly paying close attention. “So as long we get the agent out-” 

“It’s a successful mission,” Monroe finishes. 

“What are you waiting for, Johnny,” you tell him already heading towards the door, “I’ve got to get my explosives.” 

After you and Monroe got all your supplies you headed to your destination. Your goal was to create a distraction so that your fellow Shield agent could get out of a building crawling with hostile mercenaries. Though you and Monroe weren’t good for going undercover and espionage you were Fury’s top dogs when it came to extractions. Or just causing general mayhem. If he needed something blown up or wrecked, you were his agents for the job. 

Once you arrived at your location you were both fast to set up explosives around the perimeter. Before detonating you, both took cover behind some trees in a safe distance, but you made sure you were close enough to watch the show. 

“Would you do me the pleasure of burning this place to the ground,” you asked your partner dramatically as you handed him the detonator. 

He pretended to wipe away a tear, “I thought you would never ask.” 

Monroe pressed the button and a glorious explosion of fireworks caused chaos among the mercenaries. You both took a minute to admire the pretty colors in the sky before rushing towards the building. Taking advantage of the mayhem you, both snuck in and separated to find the Shield agent you were meant to meet. 

You were careful to stick to the shadows as you navigate the maze of hallways. You were sure Monroe wasn’t taking the same precautions, he wasn’t as careful as you, but you didn’t doubt his ability to get out of trouble. He would joke that he was your lucky charm because no matter how much trouble the two of you got into, he was able to get you out. You could remember many missions where that wasn’t the case, but you let him believe what he wanted. 

“How’s it looking over there?” you whispered into the comms. You heard nothing but static. “Johnny, you there?” 

You decided to continue forward but nearly ran into a crowd of mercenaries coming down the hall. There were way more people here than you were informed. You quickly ducked into a nearby room to wait for them to pass by, but when you closed the door you were meet with a horrendous smell. The Shield agent tied to a chair covered in cuts with their head hanging low. You were going to check for a pulse but with putrid smell filling the room and the state of the body you figured there wasn’t a point. 

“Johnny let’s get out of here. I found the agent and it looks like they’ve been dead for a while… Johnny?” Again, no response. 

You gave a salute to the fallen Shield agent and then left to find your partner. He most likely managed to get himself into some trouble. So much for a good luck charm. 

As you once again walked through the halls you heard two mercenaries talking around the corner. You were going to ignore them but one of them mentioned an interesting topic. "Did you see the guy they caught sneaking in?” 

“No, was he the one who set off the fireworks outside?” his friend asked. 

“Most likely. They’re probably going to give him the same treatment they gave the last piece of shit that tried to sneak in.” 

“He’s probably getting it right now.” 

“You boys wouldn’t happen to know where exactly he was taken would you?” you asked as you walked out of your hiding spot. 

They both stared in shock for a second before they came at you. You ducked as they tried to grab you and laughed as they bumped into each. You hit one of them over the head with the butt of your gun and then pinned the other against a wall with their arm behind their back. 

“I’ll repeat myself,” you told them putting pressure on their arm making them yelp, “Where is the man they caught?” 

“Down the hall third door to the left!” they answered in a panic. You knocked them out and let them fall to the ground. 

You hurried towards the door and pressed your ear on the outside. You could hear grunts and shouting, but it was all muffled. The lock on the outside looked to be too sophisticated for you to lock pick it and even if you could, you would be outnumbered. As you went through your options you noticed a nearby air vent big enough for you to crawl into. Looks like you’ll have to use the element of surprise. 

As you crawled through the vent system, you navigated towards the voices of the mercenaries and your partner. Even from far away, you could hear Monroe taunting his captures. 

“My grandma hits harder than that and she’d got arthritis, what’s your excuse,” you heard him yell followed by loud smack and him grunting. 

You finally made it to the vent directly above the room where you found Monroe sitting in a chair all tied up surrounded by mercenaries. He had a bloody nose and bruised cheek but that didn’t stop him from giving everyone a cocky smile. 

“When my partner gets here, they’re going to beat your ass,” he told the man standing in front of him with a bushy mustache who seemed to be in charge. “They’re going to make you regret ever laying a hand on me.” 

The mustache guy laughed loudly. “And where is your ferocious partner now? Did they leave you or are you making them up?” 

“They’ll be here any minute!” 

You counted how many hostiles were in the room and saw that there were too many. Luckily, you always came prepared for things like this. You pulled out one of your detonators and activated some explosives you had set up earlier. Immediately mustache guy ordered his men out of the room to go investigate, leaving only himself and Monroe in the room. 

“That must be your big bad partner,” the guy said as he pulled out a knife. He swiped it across Monroe’s bottom lip making a nasty cut that went down to his chin. You saw Monroe flinch and try not to scream, that’s when you knew you had to act fast. You kicked down the vent door and jumped out from your hiding spot. 

“He was right,” you told the guy, “I am going to make you regret touching him.” 

Mustache guy lunged at you with his knife, but you dodged and disarmed him. You landed a few blows on his gut making him double over letting you knee him in the face. He fell to the ground and you hit him until he was unconscious, and his face was a bloody mess. 

“I was starting to think you were going to rip the mustache right off his face,” Monroe commented. He mumbled a lot as it hurt to move his lips. 

You untied him and helped him to his feet. “Tempting but I think it would have been a little overboard.” 

You both rushed towards the exit and miraculously made it back to the quinjet without any more obstacles. As you started it up Monroe looked out to the building. 

“Wish I could have gotten those bastards back,” he murmured. 

You smiled and pulled out your last detonator. “Would like to do the grand finale.” 

Your partner pressed it without hesitation and the building went up into flames. He laughed as you flew the jet leaving the burning building behind you. “Sometimes I think you like explosives too much. Are you sure you don’t have any sort of pyromania?” 

You laughed, “Everyone loves explosives.” 

After you were on a set course back to the Shield helicarrier you put the quinjet on autopilot and started tending to your partner’s wounds. His lip would need some stitches but luckily that was the worst of it. 

“Look on the bright side,” you told him as you cleaned up the blood on his face, “you’ll have a wicked scar after this. Chicks dig scars.” 

“Do you?” he teased. 

You played along, “Oh yeah. They’re a huge turn on.” 

It went quiet for second before Monroe looked at you seriously. “Thanks for coming back for me. Would have been a goner without you.” 

“I couldn’t let them hurt my lucky charm, now could I?” 

He smiled as he watched you put away the medical kit. “True, what would you do without me?” 

“You’re my partner Johnny, you would have done the same for me.” 

“Of course,” he said his smile faltering for a second. You assumed it was because of the cut. “I owe you one (N/N). I’ll have to find a way to pay you back.” 

You patted him on the shoulder and went back to the pilot’s chair. As you flew the plane you didn’t know your partner would never keep the promise he made. 

In present-day, you leaned against the balcony in your room with a cigarette in your hand. You zoned out as you thought of your years in Shield working with Monroe. You went over all your interactions looking for a sign you had missed that could have made you see what he was up to. But you couldn’t, he was either that good or you had been too naive to notice. 

You took a puff of your cigarette and put it out on the railing and went to bed. It doesn’t matter now; Monroe had made his choices and now you were going to make sure he answered for them.


	8. Stress Relief

You paced back and forth in the meeting room as Fury sat on the other side watching you. He had stopped by to give you some bad news and stayed to watch your reaction. He didn’t want you spontaneously combusting without anyone around to put you out. 

“I’m going to kill him!” you shouted. There was steam practically coming out of your ears. 

“You need to-” 

“Don’t tell me to calm down Nick! I have every right to be angry right now!” 

“I know you do, but you’re heating the whole room and I’m starting to sweat over here. Just take a seat,” Fury said in a calm tone. 

You sighed and did as he said. “How bad is the damage?” 

“It was burned to the ground.” Fury passed you a few pictures of a plot of land where your bar once stood but was now nothing more than ash and rubble. “No casualties.” 

“Are you sure this was Monroe’s doing?” 

“Do you have anyone else in mind?” 

“He’s trying to send a message. He knows I’m back in the game and is warning me to back off.” 

“Didn’t know he was the type to give warnings.” 

“Well, you didn’t know him as well as I did.” You sink into your seat and run your hand through your hair. 

Fury stood up from his seat, “Are you going to go back into hiding or are you going to keep going. If you leave, I won’t go looking for you again, but I also won’t be able to help protect you.” 

You scoffed, “I’m not afraid of him. He can do whatever he pleases, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still going to bring him in.” 

“Good to hear,” he said, “Just don’t let his games get to your head.” 

“They don’t.” 

“The melting chair says otherwise,” he points out as he walks out of the room. 

You look down and see the arms of the chair you were sitting on were melting due to the heat of your hands. You quickly stood up to avoid causing any more damage, but it was already noticeable. You walked out of the meeting room and made your way out of the building, ignoring anyone who tried talking to you. You walked until you made it to the car garage where you stepped into your car. You didn’t know where you were going, you just knew you had to get out of there to let off some steam. 

As you looked for your keys in your pocket someone opened two of your doors. You turned to see Clint stepping into your passenger seat and Bucky climbing into the back. “What the hell are you two doing?” 

“You looked like you needed to talk,” Clint said putting on his seatbelt. Bucky did the same, but he just looked like he was dragged along. 

“I feel like setting something on fire, so it would be better if-” 

“Great,” Clint interrupted, “there’s a clearing not too far from here where you can do that. I’ll give you directions.” 

You wanted to argue but you doubted the archer would listen. So, you just started up the car and drove according to his directions until you reached an empty clearing not far from the compound. You could have just walked there but it didn’t matter now. 

Once you killed the engine you got out the car and aimed your hand at a pile of dead branches. A blast of fire instantly lit the pile, engulfing it in flames. You continued setting whatever you could find on fire, didn’t matter what it was. Some old logs, an abandoned create, if it was flammable you were burning it. 

By the time you were done you had created a large bonfire. The two men who had gone with you had sat on the hood of your car watching you the whole time. They didn’t say anything just admired the flames you made. 

Exhausted by using your powers you sat on the ground next to your creation. Any ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to withstand standing so close, but you were unbothered by it. Clint walked over and sat near you, though he made sure not to get close to the flames. 

“I know Fury told you to follow me,” you said, not taking your eyes off the flames. 

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Told us to make sure you wouldn’t go get yourself hurt… Sorry about your bar by the way.” 

You waved him off, “It wasn’t that great anyway. Needed a lot of work done and I think there was a mold problem in the back.” 

“Are you going to try to fix it up?” 

“There’s nothing to fix, the bastard burned it to the ground.” 

“Do you think it was Monroe?” 

You reached out into the flames, “When I faked my death, I buried my past, Monroe is the only thing that resurfaced.” 

“What did it feel like, starting over.” 

“Not as glamorous as it sounds,” you answer honestly. “Always looking over your shoulder, afraid someone will recognize or come after you. You can’t trust people, and you can never let them know your past. Means never making any real relationships or friendships. It’s lonely.” 

“Why did you do it then?” 

You shrugged, “It sounded appealing at the time. Never thought it would all come back haunt me.” 

“So, you agreeing to help us is your way of facing your past.” 

“It’s a win-win.” 

“Say we get Monroe. You confront him and he goes away for the rest of his life. What do you do after?” 

You freeze as you take in what Clint said. You never thought past what you would do once you found Monroe again. You obviously couldn’t go back to your life before. “...guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” 

You both get up and walk over to your car where Bucky had been waiting. You took the keys out your pocket but before you could climb in Bucky cleared his voice catching your attention. You looked at him and he looked at the ground to avoid making eye contact. 

“The fire is still going,” he said in a soft tone. 

“Oh right.” you turned to the bonfire and snapped your fingers extinguishing the flames. “Thanks. Would have been a mess if I forgot.” 

The three of you made your way back to the compound where you were greeted by Wanda and Vision who was just coming back themselves. 

“Where were you three at?” She knew Clint enjoyed going out and assumed you were the same, but Bucky rarely left the grounds much less without Steve. 

You grinned, “Relieving some stress.” 

Wanda turned to Clint for a more detailed explanation, but the archer just shrugged at her. You all walked into the compound, going your separate ways, but as you navigate through the halls you could feel your right hand starting to heat up.


	9. Friendly Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad to know people are liking the story. Makes feel good about continuing it.

You stepped into the large bathtub in your bathroom and submerged yourself up to your neck in the soapy water. It was freezing cold to help cool off your body and to help you relax. You nearly fell asleep while soaking in the water but the sound of your bathroom door opening quickly brought you back to your senses. 

“Can’t I get some privacy in this place?!” you shout as you see a familiar redhead walk in. You quickly move some of the bubbles in the water to help hide your naked body. 

Unbothered Natasha sat on the edge of the bathtub, “I didn’t take you for someone who enjoyed bubble baths.” 

“I’m allowed to pamper myself once in a while.” 

Natasha dipped her hand in the water making you jump slightly. She quickly took it out and looked at you concerned, “This water is freezing. Aren’t you worried about getting hyperthermia?” 

“Extreme temperatures aren’t a problem for me. I can raise my body temperature. Why are you here?” 

“Heard you were out partying with Barton and Barnes.” 

“Word travels fast around here.” It hadn’t even been that long since you came back, and the news has already made it to the Black widow. It did make some sense as Clint was known to be close to her. 

“Heard you were off burning things not far from here. Have to admit I’m a little hurt you didn’t bring me along.” 

“It was last minute, and I didn’t think you were into that type of thing.” 

She dipped a finger back in the water and moved it slowly watching the way the water moved. “I’m not afraid to play with a little fire.” 

You shake your head and start chuckling, “Are you trying to seduce me right now Ms. Romanoff?” 

“Is it working?” 

“No, but I’ll give you extra points for effort.” 

She shook her hands dry and shrugged, “Worth a shot.” 

“Now can I ask what you really came here to do?” 

“What triggered you to go into a temper tantrum?” 

You laughed at how she phrased it. “I wouldn’t call it a temper-” 

“You got angry and started burning things, I consider that a temper tantrum,” she told you bluntly. 

“If I don’t let it out it builds up and I explode,” you explain, “Everyone has a way of distressing.” 

“Yours involves setting fires and bubble baths,” she says with amusement. 

“What’s yours?” 

“Mine is… a lot more intimate. I can show you whenever we both have to blow off some steam,” she said, her voice lower than before. 

You coughed and turned away to avoid letting her see the blush on your face. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“You never answered my previous question though. What got you so worked up?” 

Suddenly you felt yourself get angry at the thought of your ruined bar. The bathtub water heated up as your temperature rose. “My bar got burned down.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

You waved her off like you had Clint. “I’ll get over it.” 

“Do you know who it was?” 

“Monroe, I’m positive on that.” 

She was quiet for a bit before standing up and walking to the door, “I guess I’ll let you get back to your bubble bath then.” 

You called out her name before she could walk out the door. “Where do you learn those interrogation techniques? I don’t remember Shield ever teaching those.” 

“Guess I’m just full of surprises.” 

Once she was gone you leaned against the side of the tub and sighed. The water had warmed up to room temperature and your fingers were starting to get pruney. You grabbed a nearby towel and got out of the tub. 

“Can’t even take a bath in peace,” you grumbled as you dried yourself out. 

It looks like you would have to add Natasha to the list of people you have to keep a close eye on. She was waiting for you to slip up and say something by disguising her questioning as a friendly chat. Whether she got what she wanted or not, you didn’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Y/N)'s and Natasha's relationship with each other is made up of a sort of flirty/friendly banter but (Y/N) is still wary of her, I hope that was clear in this short chapter. Next one will have some more action.


	10. Pre-Mission Ritual

“Are you positive this is his last warehouse?” You asked as you leaned back in your seat in the meeting room. 

The files Natasha and Tony had deciphered a few days ago had proved to be useful. They held coordinates of all the warehouses Monroe was using to distribute his supplies. The Avengers had taken out a majority so there was only one left. It is located in Siberia and it was where he was manufacturing his product. 

“Should be,” Steve replied as he made an aerial photo of the building pop up on the large screen. “The Russian government gave us permission to move in as long as we focus purely on Monroe as he is technically a US fugitive.” 

“How kind of them,” Natasha murmured. 

“When are we exactly moving in?” Rhodes asked. “It should be soon considering Monroe might be clearing the place out right now.” 

“He’s right, Monroe has a head start we should act fast,” you agreed. 

Everyone turned to look at Rogers and Stark as the two glanced at each other. They simply nodded in agreement and then Steve turned back to the team. “We’ll head out by tomorrow morning; everyone should be ready by then.” 

“Everyone?” Bruce asked, removing his glasses and wiping them nervously. “Is that really necessary?” 

“Does the Hulk not like the cold,” You joked, causing a few people to laugh. 

“Not particularly,” Bruce replied seriously. 

“This is a big assignment,” Steve told him, “We could really use the other guy in case things get tough out there.” 

“You won’t have to do anything unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Tony reassured his friend. “You’ll most likely just be in the quinjet waiting for us.” 

Bruce looked conflicted but, in the end, agreed. The team was a lot larger these days, he won’t even need to turn green. Or at least he hoped. 

Everyone filed out of the room to go prepare but instead of going off to your room, you went straight to the bar area. If this location was really where Monroe was making his goods, then there could be a good chance you would see him there. The thought made you feel ill. 

“A drink at this hour?” Wilson asked. He sat on the stool and stared as you made yourself a drink. 

“We all have our pre-mission ritual, care to join me in mine.” 

“As lovely as that sounds my pre-mission ritual is getting a good night’s sleep.” 

“Wow, that sucks. I didn’t know the Falcon was so lame,” you told him as you lit a cigarette. 

He chuckled, “You nervous about tomorrow?” 

You chug down your drink and reach for another. “Nothing a little liquid courage can’t fix.” 

“You want to talk about it?” 

“I appreciate it but I’m not really the type to talk about my feelings.” 

“No, I heard you prefer bubble baths.” 

Caught off guard you choke on some smoke. “Guessing Romanoff told you.” 

“Word spreads fast around here.” 

“So, I’ve noticed.” 

“You’re here, good.” You and Sam turn to see Clint walk in. He casually sits on a stool and adjusts his hearing aids. 

“You need something, Barton?” you ask. 

“Yeah, you’re on good terms with Stark right?” 

You cock an eyebrow and cross your arms. “I suppose, why?” 

Clint sighs in relief and passes you the hearing aid from his left ear. “Can you ask him to take a look at this for me?” 

You stared at the device in your hand and then back up at Clint. “Why can’t you do it yourself.” 

He looked at the ground to avoid making eye contact as he responded. “We haven’t really spoken to each other since the whole mess with the accords. I said some things that I regret, and I haven’t apologized.” 

You toss the hearing aid back at him and turn back to your drink. “I’m not getting involved; you’re going to have to do that yourself.” 

“Oh, come on (N/N),” he whined. You flinch at hearing him use that name, only one person used to call you that… 

“Don’t call me (N/N),” you tell him bitterly, “and if you need this fixed just buck up and apologize already. I’m fairly sure Stark said some things he regrets too.” 

Clint groaned, “Pleaseee! Just this one favor.” 

“I don’t think he’s going to leave you alone until you do,” Sam commented. 

You sighed and put out your cigarette. “Fine, but after this don’t come up to me for favors.” 

“You’re the best,” he said, giving you back his hearing aid. 

You finished your drink and then headed towards the lab where Tony was getting his Ironman suit ready for tomorrow. As you walked in you bumped into a table full of tools, alerting him of your presence. 

“My bad,” you say sitting down on a chair next to his work table. 

Tony stared at you for a while before turning back to his work. “Did you need something?” 

“Can’t I stop by just to say hello?” 

“Nobody comes down here unless they need something.” 

“Well, you’ve caught me,” you take out Clint’s hearing aid and place it on the table, “I was hoping you could take a quick look at this.” 

Tony grabbed and examined it, “This is Clint’s, isn’t it? Why didn’t he come to ask me himself?” 

“He’s preoccupied and asked me for a favor,” you lied. You really weren’t in the mood to get in between whatever was going on with them, but Tony saw right through your lie. 

“He just didn’t want to talk to me, it’s fine I understand,” Tony told you, sounding disappointed. 

You rolled your eyes. “Let me guess you ‘said some things you regret.’ Yeah, Barton told me the same thing. I really think if you guys got your head out of your asses and apologized you would realize you're all being dramatic.” 

Tony gave you a funny look as he fidgeted with the device. “Are you drunk right now?” 

“Tipsy,” you corrected, “I kind of wish I were drunk though.” 

Tony hummed and then passed the hearing aid back to you. “Drink some water before you go to bed or you’ll regret it in the morning, trust me.” 

You waved him off as you headed towards the door. Sleep didn’t sound like such a bad idea right now. 

“Oh and (L/N),” Tony called out, “Tell Barton that if...if he wants me to help him with his equipment, he has to come down himself next time.” 

“About time,” you complain as you leave. 

After relaying Stark’s message to Barton and dropping off the hearing aids, you went back to your room where you fell face-first onto your bed. When your body touched the expensive bedsheets, you were suddenly overcome with exhaustion. You didn’t do anything physical today but the possibilities of what could happen on your mission tomorrow were weighing you down. 

“See you tomorrow Johnny,” you whisper as you lean over to the side of your bed and turn off the table lamp.


	11. Mission

The Siberian cold wasn’t a friend of the Avengers. In fact, it was making their lives miserable right now. 

Thanks to your powers you didn’t even have to have a coat on as your body temperature was extremely high and you could raise it higher if you needed to. Rogers and Barnes were also having an easier time than their team as the super-soldier serum running through their veins helped keep their core temperature up. Of course, they weren’t exactly immune to the cold as you were, so they wore coats and took the same precautions as their team. 

“I hate it here,” Wilson complained as he stepped out of the quinjet and into the snow. He had a thick winter jacket over his mission suit but even then, he was still shivering. 

“I don’t know what you mean,” you grinned at him, “I like this weather.” 

“Easy for you to say,” Wanda told you as she rubbed her gloved hands together, “You’re like a walking torch.” 

“What about Vision?” you asked pointing at the android who was walking around like nothing with just a cape on his back. 

“The cold makes his skin cold; he can’t control his temperature.” 

You rolled your eyes and gestured for Wanda to come closer. Instantly she attached herself to your left arm and pressed herself closer to you. Seeing her taking advantage of your body heat Clint rushed to your right side and pressed himself against you too. Before you could complain Natasha and Sam joined in too and soon you were surrounded by more than half team as they used you as their personal heater. 

“I know the weather isn’t very favorable but the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of here,” Rogers told his team. 

He started breaking people into groups, and you were partnered with Barton. Bruce was the only one not assigned to anyone as he would be staying behind with the two quinjets(the team was too big for just one now). He was a little too excited about that as the jets had equipped heaters. 

As you and Barton headed to the south side of the building, you saw Stark, Rhodes, Wilson, and Vision fly up ahead to cause a distraction for the rest of you. 

“I really hate the cold,” Barton complains. “Why can’t the bad guys ever choose a tropical beach to do their evil plans? Why does it have to be in snowy forests or underground caves.” 

“I don’t know, maybe they do it for the aesthetic,” you tell him. 

“Fuck their aesthetic I’m freezing my ass off out here.” 

After some complaining, you and Barton arrive at the south entrance. Your team is already causing chaos on the north side forcing the mercenaries’ attention on them. 

“Stand behind me,” you tell Clint as you aim your hands at the door.   
You blast it right off its hinges, surprising the men inside who barely have time to aim their guns at you before Clint takes them out with his arrows. As the last one fell to the ground you grabbed the weapon he had dropped and took a closer look at it. It looked like they took a Chitauri gun and combined it with an assault rifle. 

You aimed it at a few crates and pulled the trigger. With truly little recoil the weapon was powerful enough to blow the crates into a million pieces. You and Clint looked at the charred remains of the crates and then at each other in complete shock. If these were the type of weaponry Monroe was supplying this was a lot more serious than you had thought. Armed with these Hydra could not only make a strong comeback they could also do some considerable damage. 

“Cap,” Clint spoke into his comms, “have you guys encountered any mercenaries with the guns Monroe is producing?” 

“No, we’ve only seen them use standard military guns. Why?” you heard Rogers ask. 

“Then you’re going to want to keep an eye out for them. These things are stronger than the ones Strucker was fooling around with.” 

After warning the team you and Barton split up to clean out the warehouse of any more bad guys you can find. That ends up being harder than you thought as your both ambushed. In your comms, you can hear Clint asking for backup. 

“We’re cornered out here too!” you here Steve shout. “We’re going to have to call in a code green!” 

“We don’t know if the stuff in that warehouse is explosive,” Stark cut in, “Chitauri technology is unpredictable. We let the Hulk near that stuff and we can have some collateral damage.” 

“We might not have a choice,” Rogers replied. 

“There’s a town nearby!” 

“It’s miles from here Stark!” 

“I’m not willing to take the chance!” 

Suddenly the comms were flooded with the team taking sides and arguing with each other. Growing tired of it you took it off and put it in your pocket as you didn’t need the distraction while you were being shot at. 

As you fought back your attackers to find Clint you noticed a figure standing on the catwalk up in the warehouse. At first, you didn’t recognize him with the fancy tailored suit and freshly shaved face, but the second you caught a look at the scar on his lower lip you knew who he was. The grin that spread on his face as you both made eye contact made your blood boil. You glared at him as you amped up your powers to clear a path right to him. He didn’t bother moving as he watched you stomp up the catwalk until you were merely a few feet away. 

“Hey (N/N),” he said as if he had seen you just the other day. His calm demeanor would have ticked you off more if you hadn’t noticed his lip twitch as he smiled at you. You could always tell when he was nervous. 

“It’s been awhile Johnny,” you told him bitterly, “Last time I saw you, I had a bullet hole in my side, and you left me to die.” 

“Now that’s not true,” he tried backing up to leave some more space between you two but with each step he took back, you took one forward. “I knew you would survive. I mean look at you, you’re stronger than I last saw you.” 

He gestured to your hands that were burning bright. You allowed the fire to spread up to your shoulders making you look very intimidating. “It wasn’t worth what I had to go through to get it.” 

For a second you thought you saw a flash of sadness in those green eyes of his, but it quickly went away when he smirked. “As much as I would like to reminisce about the good old days, I have a chopper to catch and a private island to get to.” 

“You’re not going anywhere; you still have a lot to answer for.” 

“That’s not happening.” Monroe quickly turns around and books it down the sidewalk. You could have used your powers to stop him, but you couldn’t risk catching him on fire, you needed him alive and well to give the Avengers what they needed. Without any other choice, you chased after him. 

You nearly caught up to him until a loud crash hit the side of the building causing the wires and beams holding up the catwalk to come loose. You both held on to the rail as you were thrown off the side. You looked down and saw the large green figure that had caused the damage. 

The Hulk was throwing things around recklessly as it was trying to take out the pesky bad guys shooting at him. Sadly, for you most of the stuff he was throwing would hit the already weak catwalk, causing it to dangerously go swinging back and forth. You tried to pull yourself up, but your grip was slipping. With another hit from the Hulk, your left hand lost its hold of the railing. You were surely going to fall to your death until you felt someone grab onto your right arm. You look up and see Monroe who had managed to pull himself up. 

“Give me your other hand!” He shouts. You let him help you until you’re back up safely. 

Before you can turn to thank him, you feel a sharp pain on your neck and electricity painfully flows through your body. As you’re spasming on the ground Monroe leans over you with a smile. “See you around (N/N).” 

In the corner of your eye, you see him run off, but you can’t go after him. Your body is locked into place as you are painfully electrocuted. Not wanting him to get away you force your hand on the device he implanted on your neck and painfully rip it out of your skin. 

Once the pain stops you quickly sit up and run in the direction you had seen Monroe go. As you run you pull out your comms and try to call the Avengers for help. “Monroe is on the east side of the building! I need backup! He’s getting away!” 

You don’t get a response, in fact, all you hear is the same bickering from before. You decide to follow Monroe by yourself, but as you hear a helicopter nearby you realize you’re too late. You manage to see Monroe give you a lazy salute as he takes off. 

You quickly try to contact anyone like Stark or Vision who would have been able to follow him but again no response. 

Pissed off you stomp your way back to the Avengers that have taken care of the enemies but have now resorted to fighting themselves. You realize that while you were off chasing Monroe, Earth’s so-called mightiest heroes were bickering like children. 

Vision was dodging arrows from Barton, Rogers was dodging blows from Stark, and Rhodes and Wilson were even fighting it out. Romanoff and Banner were also arguing but at least he was no longer green. The only ones not causing trouble were Barnes and Maximoff even though they looked like they wanted to jump in at certain moments. You suppose they knew their team wouldn’t hurt each other this time. You didn’t care though; you were angry at all of them for a different reason and they were going to listen to it. 

Using your powers, you sent a blast of fire at Stark and Rogers forcing them to separate. Everyone stopped as they watched the two men look at you in surprise. Steve who had to use his shield to protect himself spoke up first. “What was that about?” 

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill you!” you shout at him. “Monroe got away while you all had your heads up your asses!” 

“Monroe was here?” Stark asked, surprised. 

“You would have known if you would have listened to the comms,” you replied bitterly. “I wondered how he kept getting away from you all before but now I see it was because you’re all too incompetent to do your jobs right!” 

“He got away from you,” Stark shot back. 

“And where were you then Mr. Big shot?! What’s the point of all this fancy tech if none of you know how to play nice?! I’ve seen toddlers with better cooperation skills!” 

Romanoff quickly cut in as she saw your fist start to glow. She didn’t want another fight breaking out. “Okay (Y/N), this is on us. We should have been paying attention, and we should have had your back.” 

You scoff at her, “You people are unbelievable.” 

“We can get this right,” Steve told you, “We just took out the place he’s been manufacturing the weapons, that’ll delay him. Next time-” 

“Next time?! There’s not going to be a next time!” you shout frustrated. “It’s over, we have nothing, Monroe won!” 

“You’re angry you’re not thinking straight-” 

“Like hell I am!” Your hands burst into flames. You look at everyone else and notice how they tense. Rogers tightens his grip on his shield and Clint has an arrow ready. Even Tony was heating up his repulsors. You glare at them as the fire slowly goes out from your hands but they’re still slightly glowing. “I’m done here.” 

You turn around and head towards one of the quinjets where you sit in one of the seats blowing off some steam. 

“You need a ride?” you hear a deep voice ask. You look up and see Barnes and Maximoff standing by the entrance. 

“Where’s everyone else?” 

“Off fighting with each other again,” Wanda answers. 

“Surprised you two didn’t join in. No offense.” 

“I get carried away with my powers, I didn’t want to hurt any of them.” 

“It didn’t end well the last time I was involved in one of their brawls,” Barnes added. 

You sighed as you sat back in your seat. “I kind of just want to go home.” 

“Everyone else can deal with the cleanup while we head back to the compound-” 

“No, I don’t mean the compound,” you tell him, “I want to get back to my tiny old apartment and my shithole bar.” 

“We can arrange that,” Barnes says as he sits in the cockpit of the plane. It’s quiet as he flies you guys out of there as you’re not really in a mood to talk. 

Sadly, your angsty brooding was interrupted as you felt a strong force jolt you out of your seat. You move towards Barnes who seemed to be struggling with the controls. 

“We were hit!” he shouts as the jet quickly starts losing altitude. 

“By what?!” Wanda asked, panicking. 

“Don’t know! I’m going to try and aim for that clearing! Brace for impact!” 

You all hold on to something as the quinjet goes crashing into the Siberian wilderness.


	12. Siberian Wilderness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The survival knowledge and scenarios I used for this chapter are from an old Man vs Wild episode with Bear Grylls. I am not a survival expert, I fractured my toe this morning from stubbing it against a corner, I would die out in the wilderness. Though this is one of my favorite chapters so far.

You woke up with a pounding headache, your vision was fuzzy, and your ears were slightly ringing. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought it was just a hangover but the snow all over your clothes and the smell of smoke in the air caused memories to come flooding back. 

Disoriented you got up and looked at the wreckage of the quinjet. There was smoke coming from the engine which was never a good sign. There was a large hole on the left side where it got hit and the wings had been torn clean off. You’re sure you saw one of them hanging from a tree. Overall, there was no way this thing was flying again. 

“(Y/N)!” you turn and see Wanda and Bucky make their way to you. They looked a little out of it too, but they didn’t seem to be hurt badly. 

“Glad to see you two survived,” you tell them. 

“Me too,” Wanda responded. She put up the hood of her jacket and rubbed her hands. “Shouldn’t we check for any emergency supplies?” 

“Good idea,” you say, making your way into the jet. 

You all carefully look around for what Bucky described as a red box that had a bunch of emergency supplies in it. It was made specifically for disasters like this. When one of you finally finds it, Bucky drags it out and you all go through its contents. 

“We have some food, a medkit, a flare, an inflatable raft,” you say listing all your supplies, “some water, emergency blankets. Wow, you guys prepare for everything don’t you?” 

“Can we even carry all this stuff?” Wanda asked looking at the emergency raft. “Do we even need most of it?” 

“Lucky for us they’ve included some very stylish rucksacks.” You pass one to Barnes and you both start stuffing the bags with everything you need. Luckily, the bags were big enough to carry all your supplies, except the raft but you refused to leave it, claiming it would come in handy. 

“Okay, we have supplies now what do we just wait?” 

You shake your head; you have training for extreme weather like this and you know this cold can kill in minutes. You were fine, but Maximoff and Barnes were a different story. “We stay still and you two can freeze to death in minutes. We need to keep moving and get to lower ground.” 

Barnes looked as though he wanted to argue, “The cold doesn’t affect me-” 

“But it does to her,” you gesture at Wanda who is shivering despite the layers of clothes she has on. Even for someone who grew up in a cold environment, the Siberian weather is a force to be reckoned with. “Frostbite or hypothermia can get her in minutes.” 

Bucky nodded, “You’re right. The jet should have sent a distress signal before we went down but there’s no way of telling. We’re miles from the warehouse so there’s no going back, and that’s even with hoping everyone is still back there.” 

“We go east then.” you grab a nearby branch and draw a rough map on the snow. “This is us,” you draw an X, “we go east we should be headed towards a railway that should lead us into that town that Stark had mentioned before. I saw it when we were coming here.” 

“How long will that take?” 

“Daylight doesn’t last long out here, and we can’t risk traveling by night because the temperature plummets so… I don’t know.” 

“It beats staying out here to freeze,” Wanda comments, her teeth chattering. You quickly pull her close to you, letting your powers warm her. 

“We should leave a message signaling what direction we’re going in case someone comes looking for us here,” Bucky suggested. 

“Good idea.” 

You both quickly use some rocks to make a large arrow pointing east. You also use your powers to etch a message on a piece of scrap metal, describing your destination. After that, the three of you were off. 

After walking for a few hours, you lost sight of the crash site, now the only thing around you was snow and trees. It was a bit eerie as the only thing you could hear was the sounds of your footsteps and the breathing of your companions. It was like the forest was completely still. 

“You seem to know a lot about surviving in the forest,” Wanda comments, breaking the silence. She was still huddled close to you. 

“Shield trained me to be able to survive in extreme environments. I was a level seven agent, I had to be prepared to enter any type of situation,” you explained. Your days as a Shield agent felt like a lifetime ago so it felt weird talking about it but if it meant getting your mind off your current situation you wouldn’t mind reminiscing. 

“Do you like the outdoors?” Barnes asks quietly. He wasn’t usually up for a casual conversation, but it seemed like you all needed a distraction. 

“I don’t exactly miss it,” you shrug, “but I do enjoy some fresh air now and then.” 

While you all continue to mindlessly talk and walk you notice that it’s starting to get dark. You all decide to quickly look for shelter. 

“Over here,” Barnes calls out. You and Wanda look to where he’s pointing, and you see a decent sized cave. 

“It’s better than nothing.” 

Lighting a small fire in your hand you check to see if there are any wild animals already taking shelter in the cave. Once you deemed it safe you all set up where you’re going to sleep, and you built a quick campfire. Wanda and Bucky gratefully huddle close to the flames as you pass around the food. 

“Shouldn’t we ration how much we eat?” Wanda asked. 

“I do,” you tell her, “but you two have to take twice as many calories to maintain your core temperature. Especially Mr. Fast metabolism here.” Bucky sheepishly eats his food as you point at him. 

“What happens if our core temperature drops?” 

“Judgement goes and your coordination suffers. Many people who experience hyperthermia suddenly say they feel hot and start taking off their layers leaving them more vulnerable. The cold will make you do things you don’t realize.” 

After eating, Bucky and Wanda huddle close and fall asleep with the fire still going. You promised to wake Bucky up so you two could take shifts. You wanted to use your shift as an excuse to smoke without annoying the other two, but as you reached into your pocket where you normally kept your cigarettes you realized they’re no longer there. This was the perfect time to have nicotine withdrawal, you thought to yourself sarcastically. 

The next day you woke up without a headache this time, but you did feel something holding you down. You rub your eyes and look to your side, seeing Wanda curled up still asleep. Flustered, you abruptly sit up waking her. 

“What time is it?” she asked, sounding sleepy and unbothered by the proximity you two were just in. 

“Don’t know,” you say standing up. As you stretch you notice you’re missing a member of your group. “Where’s Barnes?” 

The question alerted Wanda as she looked around the cave and panicked. “Is he outside?” 

You both quickly head out of the cave and nearly start yelling for Barnes until you notice a figure behind a tree with their back towards you. You call out to them, “Is that you, Barnes?” 

“Yeah,” he responds but doesn’t turn around. You and Wanda glance at each other, not understanding his strange behavior. 

“Are you okay?” 

He’s quiet for a few seconds before he sighs and turns towards you with his left metal prosthetic on his face. Realizing what was going on you couldn’t help but chuckle. Wanda looked confused as Bucky glared at you. 

“Are you hurt?” She asked Bucky. She assumed that was why he had his hand on his face. 

“He’s fine,” you told her, “I probably should have warned you about that Barnes, but I assumed you already knew.” 

“Knew what?” 

“Out here metal can easily stick to skin. You’ve ever licked a frozen pole as a kid?” 

“No, I had common sense growing up.” 

“You missed out.” 

You walk up to Barnes and try to pull his metal arm off his face, but he grunts in pain. “Don’t you think I’ve already tried that?” 

You chuckled again, “I’ll heat some water, it should help get it right off.” 

You all go back to the cave where you heat a water bottle with your powers and pour the warm water on Bucky’s face letting his metal hand come loose. After that Bucky made sure to keep his gloves on. 

“What’s the plan now?” he asked while you all had some breakfast. 

“We keep moving.” 

After eating you all packed your things and started walking again. You kept your eyes out for any movement in the sky just in case the Avengers were out looking for you but so far there was nothing. 

It felt like you were all walking forever until you came up to the edge of a steep hillside. It was a great vantage point, letting you see the large stretch of land you still had to cross. 

“This looks too steep to climb down,” Bucky told you, looking down at the snowy hillside. 

“You ever go sledding as a kid, Barnes?” you asked out of nowhere. 

“When Steve and I were kids, why?” 

You held up the inflatable raft you had been carrying the whole time and smiled. “Told you it would come in handy.” 

After activating the raft, you set it up at the edge of the hill and signaled for your companions to join you. Wanda and Bucky looked at you as though you’ve just gone insane. 

“I’m not getting in that,” Wanda scowled at the bright yellow raft. 

“It’s big enough for four people, you’ll fit,” you responded in a teasing tone. Bucky shook his head as he sat on your left. With the two of you in, Wanda had no choice but to join you. 

Once you were all secured you slowly edged the raft until it suddenly dropped down the hill. As the raft went down at high speeds all three of you had wildly different reactions. Bucky was gripping onto the sides as he tried to keep his composure. Wanda was screaming, terrified at how fast you were going. You on the other hand were cheering the whole way. 

As you approached the bottom the raft bumped into a rock, overturning it at the last second. Luckily, you all landed on some soft snow, but the raft had a huge gash in the side, making it useless. 

As you laid on your back on the snow you couldn’t help but laugh at what had just happened. Wanda and Bucky wanted to be annoyed but they were surprised at hearing you sound so carefree and happy. 

After your laughter died down you sat up and smiled genuinely at them. “I haven’t had that much fun in such a long time.” Your surprisingly happy attitude was contagious as Wanda and Bucky smiled along with you. 

After you all dusted yourselves off you continued your path through the icy forest. It was less eventful than you sleigh ride in the morning, but you were all in a better mood than you were the other day. You nearly forgot what happened before the crash. Monroe, the warehouse, the argument you had with the Avengers, all in the back of your mind now. 

Sadly, that feeling didn’t last long as you arrived at the edge of the forest to something blocking your path. 

“This isn’t good,” you comment looking out at the frozen lake. It was huge and took up a lot of ground. 

“Can we go around,” Wanda asked. 

Barnes shook his head,” It’ll take us days to go around. The fastest way is to go through.” 

You grabbed a nearby stick and poked the ice, you know it has to be at least four inches thick for a person to be able to walk on it but with the freshly fallen snow, it was hard to tell. If one of your companions were to fall in there, they would be lucky to make it out alive just from the freezing water itself. The cold alone can kill. The shock can leave them gasping for air and cause a panic attack. Their hands and feet would be virtually useless as circulation stops. Muscles weaken and cramp in minutes and they could lose consciousness. And if it were you under that ice you would also be in trouble. Though your powers would keep you safe from the cold you would be trapped, and it would be too dangerous for them to pull you out. 

“(Y/N),” Barnes said, pulling you out of your head as you thought of all dangers the frozen lake presented, “do you want to continue?” 

“It’s the best chance we’ve got,” you told him. 

Bucky went first, setting a pace for all of you and testing the ice. Then went Wanda a few steps behind him, and lastly you. The three of you couldn’t walk too close to each other in fear of putting too much pressure on the ice and if one of you went in it could put the others in danger. 

So far you were all taking it steady and had no troubles, but your luck didn’t last long. As you were all a few feet away from the other side you stepped onto a patch of snow. It was fine until you heard a loud crack making all three of you freeze. 

You gestured for Wanda to move towards Barnes as you looked at the cracks that had formed on the ice under you. Once they were both at a safe distance you tried taking a slow step forward but as soon as you put your weight on the ice it gave out under you. You briefly heard the shouts of your companions as you dropped into the icy water. 

Submerged in the dark freezing water you realized you had overestimated your powers. Your pulse was going up and you felt as though the air was sucked out of your lungs. You didn’t know if it was the shock but for the first time in years, you felt cold. 

You wanted to panic but thankfully your training had set in. You had to stay calm or you would hyperventilate and drown. You quickly swam up and started pounding on the ice looking for weak spots. The longer you took the more it felt as though your lungs were burning from lack of air. 

For a second you believed you were going to drown down here until your fist was finally able to break through the ice. You quickly burst through desperately grabbing at anything you could to pull yourself up. 

You didn’t notice Wanda and Bucky helping you up as your vision felt hazy and your senses were numb. They dragged you away from the water and to the shore. Bucky desperately tried to build a quickfire but was struggling. If you didn’t get dry the water would freeze to you and cause hyperthermia. 

“You’re hurt,” Wanda noticed as she looked down at the blood coming from your leg and the side of your abdomen. The ice must have cut you when you fell through. 

“I need you two to back up,” you said through chattering teeth. 

Barnes wanted to argue, “You need to-” 

“Trust me on this, I need you two to back up.” 

They both did as you said, backing up a few feet from you. Once at a safe distance, you took a few breaths and started to concentrate on your powers. And just like that you suddenly burst into flames, drying your hair and fireproof tactical suit, as well as melting all the ice and snow around you. Once you were completely dry you let the fire die out. 

“I thought the cold didn’t affect you,” Bucky said, coming closer to help check your wounds. Your powers helped with the cold, but you were still injured and bleeding. 

“Never underestimate mother nature, she isn’t very forgiving.” 

Wanda hands the medkit from one of the rucksacks to him and he starts looking over your injuries. The one on your abdomen just needs some quick bandages as your tactical suit had taken most of the damage but the gash on your leg went down your whole calf and would need some stitches. 

After Barnes patched you up you tried to stand so that you could all continue walking but the injury was too painful to put pressure on. You all decided you would take shelter for now and decide what to do the next morning. 

“I feel useless right now,” you say as Wanda and Bucky set up some large branches and cover them with leaves, creating a makeshift shelter. 

“You’re injured, not useless,” Wanda tries to reassure. 

“Being injured makes me useless.” 

“Would you be saying that if it was one of us in your position?” 

“...” 

“I didn’t think so.” 

Once they were finished you all huddled inside close to the fire you had made. You all ate in relative silence until it was time to take shifts. You weren’t allowed one tonight due to your injury, but you didn’t complain about the extra sleep. 

The next day you felt a lot better. It still hurt to walk but Wanda was able to make a makeshift crutch from some sturdy branches. This wasn’t the first time she had to improvise medical supplies. They were hard to use on the snowy uneven ground at first, but you got the hang of it. 

“How many more days until we make it back to town?” Bucky asked. 

“At the pace, we're going at now. Who knows,” you told him. 

“I miss my bed,” Wanda murmured. “I definitely miss my shower.” 

“I miss Steve, and Natasha,” Bucky added. “I even miss Wilson.” 

“Vision, Clint...and even Stark.” 

“Wow, the cold is getting to you two,” you tease. 

“Anyone you miss,” Wanda asks. 

You grow quiet as you think about the question. You didn’t have family or friends waiting for you after this and you weren’t close to any of the Avengers. “Not really.” 

After walking some more you made it to the edge of the woods again but instead of a lake, you see an icy wasteland, nothing but snow for miles. 

“So much for a town,” Bucky grumbled. 

“Take a look at that,” you said pointing at some train tracks. 

Wanda squinted as she looked out at the tracks. “What are the odds of a train coming by soon?” 

“I would say pretty high,” You point at a large object macking its way towards you. 

Not wasting any time Bucky suddenly grabs you and slings you over his shoulder. 

“Woah, Barnes,” you say startled, “buy me dinner first.” 

“We have to move fast if we want to catch our ride,” he says, starting to run. 

You all make it to the tracks on time to see the train arrive. It doesn’t stop so Wanda and Bucky run alongside it trying to hop on. Since you’re slung over Bucky’s shoulder you really can’t see what’s happening until Bucky tosses you in an open train cart. He helps Wanda up next and then he jumps in himself. 

Once you’re all safely inside you all start laughing in relief as your next stop was civilization.


	13. Motel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had some trouble finding specifics on what language Wanda spoke cause many described it as Russian or Ukrainian so I just left it as Sokovian.

After a long train ride, you and your companions arrived at the town just as you planned. Though it was still freezing, there were a lot more resources at your disposal. 

The first thing you did was stop by a shop and buy more supplies. Food, medicine, change of clothes, anything you could get with the currency that came with your emergency gear. With whatever money you had left you spent it at a shoddy looking motel at the edge of town. 

“This is the height of luxury,” you say sarcastically as you walk into the door. The hotel was in worse condition than even you were used to but at least it beat sleeping out in the open. 

Wanda went straight to the bathroom but the second she opened the door she cringed. “I think I preferred peeing in the bushes.” 

You and Bucky glance over her shoulder and are equally disgusted. The yellow tiles look like they haven’t been scrubbed in a while and the toilet seat is missing. 

“We survived a plane crash and walked through the Siberian wilderness, yet I think this motel room is the thing that’s going to kill us.” 

While Wanda takes her chances in the bathroom you and Bucky start setting up the two beds so that you won’t have to sleep on the dirty sheets. You also made sure there weren’t any bed bugs because if there were you all rather take your chances in the woods again. 

When you decide the place is good enough you sit on a chair facing the bed and rest your injured leg on the mattress. Bucky sits next to it and gestures for you to let him take a look. Without a complaint, you move aside the torn fabric of your tactical suit and let him expect your stitches. 

“It isn’t infected,” he says, “That’s good.” 

You lean back in your seat as he finishes. “Any luck contacting your team?” 

“I tried the phone at the front desk and the one here, they don’t have that kind of reach.” 

“Then I guess we’re stuck here until they come looking for us or we find another way to contact them.” 

“I guess so.” 

“It’s so gross in there,” Wanda interrupts as she walks out of the bathroom. She was brave enough to take a shower in there and is now wearing a fresh set of clothes. “At least they have hot water.” 

“Lucky you,” you say sarcastically. “Did you see any bugs in there?” 

“Thankfully, no,” she responded relieved. 

Bucky slipped into the bathroom for his turn to wash up, leaving the two of you alone for a bit. Wanda started going through the bag of food you had bought earlier while you tried channel surfing on the old T.V. in the middle of the room. 

“This would be a lot more enjoyable if I knew how to speak Russian,” you murmured. 

Wanda raised an eyebrow at you. “You don’t? I thought Shield agents were trained to speak many languages.” 

“I know enough to go by, but I think Barnes is better at it,” you say remembering how since you arrived in town Barnes had been doing most of the talking. “And just because Natasha can speak eight or more languages it doesn’t mean we all can. I mean have you heard Barton try to speak Spanish?” 

“But do you know any?” 

“Well I can speak better Spanish than Barton,” you frown trying to think what other languages you’ve picked up over the years. It wasn’t as much as Natasha though. “I can ask for the bathroom in two others.” 

Wanda chuckles, “Do you know any Sokovian?” 

“No.” She starts to speak in her native language, and you stare at her confused. “You don’t have an accent when you speak English though.” 

“Natasha helped me hide my accent for when we go undercover occasionally. It is hard to suppress it sometimes.” 

“That’s too bad,” you grin, “I have a thing for accents.” 

“Would you like to learn some Sokovian?” 

“Sure.” 

“Repeat after me,” she instructs. She slowly says a phrase in Sokovian and you slowly repeat it back to her, but when she tells you to say it faster you end up spouting random syllables making her laugh. “Not quite what I meant.” 

“I think I did pretty good,” you defend. 

“That was a terrible attempt at Sokovian,” you hear Bucky say behind you. 

The scare he gives you nearly makes you jump out of your seat. You didn’t hear him come out of the bathroom with those assassin skills of his.

You glare at him playfully, “Not all of us have a lot of practice.” 

“Not all us sound like we’re speaking gibberish,” he shoots back, making Wanda laugh. 

“You’re getting too cocky Barnes, I don’t like it,” you tease as you limp your way into the bathroom. You hear the man huff in amusement as you close the door behind you. 

Once by yourself, you look at your reflection in the dirty bathroom mirror. You sigh as you realize that when the Avengers get here, you would have a decision to make. Go back home or go after Monroe. 

Before the incident in the warehouse, you were determined to catch Monroe and have him face what he did, especially what he did to you. You didn’t know if it was seeing him again or the way the Avengers behaved that made you doubt yourself. Either way, the decision is up to you. 

After some self-reflection and a shower, you changed out of your suit and into something more comfortable. You then joined the others as they ate. 

“So, have you decided on the sleeping arrangements?” you ask as you open a bag of chips. Wanda and Bucky look at you and then glance at each other. 

“I can take the floor,” Bucky offers. 

“And miss out on sleeping on this five-star mattress? I can’t let you do that Barnes, I’ll take the floor,” you tell him. You try to sound like a caring friend but, you just didn’t want to risk sleeping in those beds, especially not with those suspicious stains. 

Wanda quickly caught on to your game, “You’re injured (Y/N), you need to keep that leg elevated. I’ll take the floor.” 

The three of you quickly started arguing over who would be sleeping on the floor at night. It was all playful even though none of you wanted to touch those sheets. But as you talked you heard a loud knock from the front door. You all immediately froze. Again, another knock but this was followed by a woman saying, “Room service.” 

Not only did none of you order room service but the motel didn’t provide any. What was also off was the fact the women had no accent as she spoke perfect English. You glanced over at your companions and they seemed to be on the same page. Bucky grabbed his gun and Wanda and you got your powers ready. 

“We didn’t order any room service,” you shout back as you all move away from the door. 

“It’s on the house.” There’s a loud bang as the door is completely torn off its hinges. Four people wearing tactical armor came bursting into the room guns at the ready. 

Using her powers Wanda easily tossed them against a wall giving you and Bucky enough time to disarm them but they didn’t go down without a fight. One of them noticed your injury and took advantage of it by kicking you. 

You hissed in pain and stumbled back letting them pin you against the bed with their hands around your throat. You used your powers to burn them in an unprotected area of their neck. They immediately let you go screaming in pain. One of their friends rushed to help but Bucky struck them over the head knocking them unconscious. 

With all their friends on the ground, you approached the one you had injured and quickly restrained them. They were still thrashing around trying to get away, but you simply took off their helmet and grabbed the front of their vest. 

You glared at him as you spoke. “Who sent you? Was it Monroe?” 

He smirked even though he was injured and outnumbered. Not in the mood for games you lit a small flame in the palm of your hand and let it hover near his face. As the heat hit his skin, he couldn’t help but flinch away. You lean close to his ear and whisper, “I hope whoever sent you, is paying you enough to make getting your face burnt off worth it.” 

The guy looks over at Bucky and Wanda, thinking they’re going to stop you but they both keep a neutral face. Finally, as you move your hand closer, he cracks. “I don’t know! I just get told who and where to do the job!” 

“How’d you find us?” 

“We crashed your jet; we followed your tracks from there.” 

“Are there any more of you in town?” 

He hesitates to answer but quickly spits it out when you make the flames bigger. “Twenty more looking for you. We have orders to shoot on sight.” 

You put out your flame and pat him on the cheek. “Thanks for the help.” 

Bucky hits him over the head making him slump over unconscious and then turns to you. “Monroe must have sent them; he was the only one who would have known we were in the area.” 

You think back to the incident at the warehouse where you were hanging onto a railing. You would have fallen if Monroe hadn’t pulled you back up. He could have easily killed you then, why wait till you were on a jet to shoot you out of the sky. 

“Perhaps,” you said, not sharing your doubts. “Either way we gotta get out of here. Our location has been compromised.” 

Wanda sighed, “I guess we’re on the run again.”


	14. Extraction

After the incident in the motel, the three of you had to get out of town and fast. Luckily, Bucky was able to convince a trucker to let the three of you hide out in the back of his cargo truck. He would safely transport you all out of town and after a day’s drive he would drop you off at a city. Once there you would be able to finally contact the Avengers and hopefully, they would come to get you soon. 

“I think this is the best sleeping arrangement we’ve had in a while,” you joke as you sit on an empty crate. The truck was empty with nothing besides your belongings and some more crates. At least that meant you had more room to stretch your legs. 

“I agree,” Bucky mutters, “at least here we don’t have to worry about bugs or rats.” 

“I can’t tell if you’re describing the woods or the motel,” Wanda tells him. 

There isn’t much talking after that as you all try to relax, although it was tough to do. Not only because of the constant moving of the vehicle but because you were all still on edge. You didn’t run into anyone suspicious while leaving town but that didn’t mean nobody was following you. 

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Inside the truck, it was hard to keep track of time. You only realized you had finally made it to your destination when you felt the vehicle slow to a stop. When the doors opened you had to squint from the sunlight but couldn’t help but smile as you looked at the tall buildings around you. 

With a brief thank you to the driver, you and your companions went looking for a form of communication. You had run out of money, so you resorted to using your basic pickpocketing skills to get a phone. After successfully doing that, Bucky typed in Steve’s number.

There was a tense silence as it was ringing, but the relief you felt when he picked up was amazing. 

“Steve, it’s me,” Bucky said with a wide smile on his face. “Yes, it’s me Bucky. Yes, (Y/N) and Wanda are with me.” 

Bucky started to describe to his friend exactly where you were. He explained what town you had first arrived at and the distance you traveled to get to the city. With that Steve was able to pinpoint your exact location. They both then picked an extraction point, which was a nearby park, and there was nothing left to do but wait. 

When you got to the park the first thing you did was slump against a snowy bench. It ached to be on your injured leg for too long even with your crutch. 

“How long are they going to take?” you asked Bucky. 

“They are in the area, so maybe an hour or so,” he told you. 

You sigh in relief, feeling a sudden weight leave your shoulders. “That’s good.” 

“Who’s coming?” Wanda asked him. She brushed some snow off the bench you were on and sat next to you. 

“Don’t know.” 

As your companions spoke you noticed a couple nearby. There wasn’t anything suspicious about them, you just noticed they happened to be holding something as they were chatting with each other. 

Without a warning, Wanda and Bucky watched as you stood up and limped over to the couple. It seemed with the basic Russian you had claimed to know you started up a conversation with them. Bucky shook his head as he saw them give you something before you came happily came limping back. 

“I thought this week would have made you quit,” Bucky told you. 

You grinned as you popped the cigarette the couple gave you into your mouth and lit it with a snap of your fingers. “Some habits die hard.” 

“You do know those things kill,” you hear a voice, not belonging to your companions, say behind you. You quickly turn around and see a familiar redhead smiling at you. 

“It’s about time, Romanoff,” you tell her. 

“Good to see you’re all in one piece,” she glances down at your crutch, “well mostly it seems.” 

Wanda quickly runs over and hugs her. Natasha smiles fondly and doesn’t resist. Once they let go, she gives a side hug to Bucky and then shakes your hand. You admit it is a relief seeing a friendly face after so long. 

“Did anyone else come with?” Bucky asked Nat. 

“They’re waiting in the quinjet. It’s on the outskirts of the city as we didn’t want to draw attention, but it’s not too far.” 

“What are we waiting for then?” you tell her, “I’m getting tired of the snow.” 

True to her word the quinjet wasn’t far. When you arrived the back opened, revealing most of the Avengers. Wanda and Bucky didn’t wait to run into the embrace of their friends, clearly overjoyed to see them. You, on the other hand, took your time. Not only could you not run but you didn’t think you had anyone waiting for you. 

“What happened to you?” you hear Clint ask as you limp up the ramp. 

“It’s a long story,” is all you say as you finally take a seat. No one questions you and just lets the three of you relax. Once in the air, you started to doze off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter felt a bit rushed.


	15. Backseat Driver

“Once done, you’ll be as good as new,” Dr. Helen Cho told you as she watched her machine patch up the wound on your leg. According to her, the regeneration cradle would create synthetic tissue that would heal you. Your injury wasn’t fresh and had already started improving, so there would be a scar left behind, but at least you wouldn’t have to wait weeks for it to get better. 

“Why don’t all hospitals have something like this?” You ask, lying on your back. 

“We don’t have all the materials to mass-produce it yet,” she explains, “we also want to make sure it’ll be available to everyone, not just those with money.” 

“I can respect that.” 

You hear a beep signaling the process is over. The doctor helps you back up, and you look at your leg. You slowly run your hand on it and barely feel the difference. The scar is practically invisible if you’re not looking for it. 

“You’re a miracle worker doc,” you say, rolling down your pants sleeve and getting out the machine. “Wish we had your technology when I was a Shield agent, it would have saved me a lot of time.” 

“Thankfully, Stark found my research promising, or else we would have waited longer.” 

“Well, thanks, doc.” You put your shoes back on and head for the exit. 

“(L/N), one last thing,” Dr. Cho calls out, making you pause, “try to cut back on the smoking. If falling into a frozen lake won’t kill you, those things will.” 

You grin and give her a lazy salute. “I’ll keep it in mind.” 

After leaving the medical bay, you went straight to your bedroom. Friday told you Bucky and Wanda were currently debriefing the team, and you decided to let them handle it. In the meantime, you decided to start packing. 

You didn’t bring much with you in the first place, so all your belongings fit into a duffle bag. As you were putting away the last thing, you noticed a package on one of the bedside tables. It was neatly wrapped in brown paper and had a bow on top. You approached it slowly and checked out the little note next to it. 

“We had a backup for you- Dr. B,” it read. 

You open the package and see your mission suit or at least another version of it. Your last one got damaged during your days in Russia, but this new one was an exact copy and in better condition. For a minute, you debate whether to pack it but do it anyway. 

Once done, you head out to the garage, but as you’re coming out of the elevator, Friday catches your attention. “Would you like me to alert someone of your departure?” 

You hesitate, “No. Not unless they ask.” 

“May I ask how long you’ll be gone?” 

“...I’m not sure.” After that, she wished you luck, and you hopped into the car driving out of there. 

You were barely a few minutes away from the compound when you felt a tap on your shoulder. It startled you so severely you nearly swerved the car off the road. 

“You’re losing your touch,” you hear a deep voice say in your backseat. 

“Are you out of your mind, Nick?!” you shout, glaring at him from your rearview mirror. “I could have killed us both!” 

Your old boss looks smug from the backseat, “Wouldn’t have happened if you checked your surroundings.” 

You stop the car at the side of the empty road and turn around in your seat. “How did you even know to wait for me here?” 

“I heard about what happened in Siberia. I figured you would try to leave after that.” 

“I’m not that predictable,” you try to argue. 

Fury raises an eyebrow at you. “You ran away after Monroe betrayed you-” 

“But I came back.” 

“-and now you’re running away again after he got the better of you.” 

“He did not get the better of me,” you quickly defend, “I would have had him if the Avengers had been doing their jobs!” 

“So, he didn’t catch you off guard?” 

You pause, remembering how Johnny had helped you from falling off the catwalk and then incapacitated you with a taser disk. “...doesn’t matter, we would have caught him if Stark and Rogers hadn’t been bickering.” 

“So, you’re giving up? You said before you weren’t going to back down or let this get to you. I guess you can’t live up to your promises.” 

“You really know how to piss people off Nick.” 

“I’ve been doing it for years.” He opens the car door and steps out. He then leans down on the driver’s side window. “Just think about it before you make a decision.” 

“I’m not giving you a ride back!” you shout as he walks away. 

“I already have one,” he tells you smugly. 

A sleek black car comes down the road and parks next to yours. The windows roll down and you see a familiar brunette in the driver’s seat. She smiles and waves at you, “Good to see you again (L/N).” 

“Hill?” you ask, surprised. “You’re still cleaning up Fury’s messes? I thought you were working with the Avengers?” 

Maria Hill was one of your bosses when you worked for Shield. You liked to irritate her as much as you could in your recruit days. She thought of firing you many times but had to admit you were good at your job. 

Hill ignores your questions as Fury climbs into the passenger seat of her car. He gives you one last nod, “Think about what your next move is going to be and try not to fuck it up.” 

“Words of inspiration,” you say before they drive off in the direction you had been headed to. 

Once they were out of sight you started your car and drove back to the Avenger’s compound. The whole time you were muttering to yourself about how Fury was dumb and how you should have pushed him out your car. 

“So, you’re giving up?” you repeated his words in a mocking tone. “Try not to fuck it up; easy for him to say.” 

When you arrived back at the compound you dropped your stuff back in your room and then headed to the living area where thankfully most of the team was gathered. They seemed to be having some sort of debate, but it died down when you walked in. 

“Friday said you left, and your room was empty,” Sam spoke up, “We assumed you weren’t coming back.” 

You sat down in an empty armchair and sighed, “Yeah I was already out of here but then decided to come back.” 

“What changed your mind?” Wanda asked. 

“A one-eyed homeless dude in my backseat.” 

“A what?” 

“Doesn’t matter. We need to talk.”


	16. Apologies

You sigh as you sit in the middle of the room. You don’t know what you expected to happen, but a simple chat soon turned into a shouting match. 

“You’re the one who signed,” Steve shouted at Tony. 

Stark laughed mockingly, “We could have compromised as we did now! I was willing to work it out, you’re the one who lied!” 

“I wasn’t sure! I knew you wouldn’t react-” 

“You don’t get to decide how I react. They were my parents!” 

You rub your temples as you try to zone those two out, but you end up listening to Bruce and Clint’s argument. 

“You weren’t even there!” Clint shouted at the scientist. 

“Your right I’m sorry I was kidnapped and wasn’t able to join your petty airport fight!” You could see green start to spread up Bruce’s neck and took that as a cue to cut in. 

“Okay! Okay! That’s enough! No one is getting anywhere with this,” you told them. “You’re acting childish again.” 

“You’re one to talk,” Natasha sneered. 

You knew she had said it in the heat of the moment, but you couldn’t help but engage. “And what is that supposed to mean?” 

“At least we’re dealing with our issues, you’re the one running from them.” She was baiting you into an argument, and sad to say it was working. 

“If I was running, I would be halfway across the country by now, not dealing with a bunch of overgrown children!” You started to raise your voice making everyone else turn to the two of you. 

“You wouldn’t have even thought about running if you weren’t afraid of Monroe.” 

“I’m not afraid of no one,” you say standing up and going up to her face. “Not of you and definitely not of Monroe.” 

“Doesn’t look like that from where I’m standing,” she said smugly. 

“You got a lot of nerve talking to me like that Romanoff.” You could feel the heat starting to rise in the palm of your hands. “You’re not exactly known for sticking around when trouble pops up.” 

“Better track record than you,” she shot back. 

“Okay let’s break it up before we say something we regret,” Sam stepped between the two of you, forcing you to sit back down. 

“No, let them let it out,” Tony told him, “We all need to get something off our chest.” 

“Really Stark,” Clint commented. 

“Yeah really. I’m tired of all of us tiptoeing around each other! If we can’t say what we are thinking, then we won’t get anywhere with this.” 

“I agree,” Steve said, surprising everyone. “We can’t start healing if we’re holding back.” 

“Oh boy,” you murmur, “please tell me this isn’t turning into group therapy.” 

Steve turned to Tony who crossed his arms defensively. “Stark, you’re arrogant, stubborn, and hard to agree with-” 

Tony scoffed, “Well you’re-” 

“-But you’re a good man and my friend. I lied to you and should have been honest about your parents. I was afraid of what would happen to Bucky and let it blind me. You had every right to be angry. I should have tried talking to you instead of… practically leaving you to die in that base in Siberia. I’m sorry.” 

Tony’s features softened. “You’re a self-righteous bastard Rogers, but you’re also a good man. I was at fault too. I should have waited before signing the accords, we could have found an alternative together. And I let my emotions get the better of me when you were protecting your friend. I’m sorry.” 

Tony turned to Bucky who was having trouble looking at him in the eye. “You aren’t to blame Barnes, but I forgive you anyway. You were a victim, and they wouldn’t have blamed you either.” 

He offers a handshake to Bucky as a sign of peace and the soldier accepts. Before they let go Bucky speaks. “I didn’t mean to get between the two of you.” 

“You didn’t get between anyone Buck,” Steve reassures. “Something would have happened eventually.” 

“Since we’re throwing out apologies I might as well get this over with.” Tony then turns to Wanda. “Maximoff, I owe you a long-overdue apology. I didn’t know what my company was doing when Stane was in charge, but I should have, and I should have stopped him sooner. I never wanted to create weapons to hurt innocent people yet that is what they were used for. I’m sorry for what happened to your family and what Ultron did to your home. And I am especially sorry for treating you like a bomb and keeping you locked up.” 

Wanda immediately enveloped Tony into a hug making him freeze. “You’re an arrogant bastard sometimes Stark, but I too see that you’re a good man. I forgive you. And I played a part with Ultron too, I take some of the blame as well.” 

Tony awkwardly hugged her back and then they let each other go. Before the billionaire sat done Barton walked up to him. “To be honest I didn’t care about the accords… but after the fight, I said some harsh things.” 

Clint glanced over at Rhodes and down at his legs that were being supported by braces. You had heard of his accident and think he might have lost the most out of the whole ordeal. Though the Colonel’s attitude never seemed to waver. 

“We both did things we’re not proud of,” Tony reassured the archer with a smile, “no need to get mushy about it.” 

The longer it took for everyone to apologize to each other the more you sink into your seat. You as well as everyone knew this wouldn’t automatically mend everything, but it was better than when it started. 

“This is a start,” Vision commented. 

You scoffed, “You can call it that.” 

“We haven’t apologized to you,” Steve said. 

You waved him off before he could say anything more. “Actions speak louder than words, Captain. If you want me to believe you’re all sorry, then show it.” 

“You’re going to stay?” Clint asked, hopefully. 

You glanced at a redhead looking at you from across the room and shrugged. “I gave my word that I would help you catch Monroe, and that’s what I’ll do.” 

“The problem with that is that we lost track of him after Siberia,” Sam said. 

“Didn’t you mention before that you had a spy on the inside?” 

“They don’t have any current information,” Steve told you. 

You thought over your last interaction with your old partner. It felt like it happened forever ago, but maybe you could remember any information he may have let slip. Thankfully, the idiot had said something that stood out. 

“Do you guys know anything about a private island?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this got a bit mushy. To be honest, I wasn't entirely on one side during Civil War as I thought everyone had a fault in something, and I think it shows in this chapter. What team were you guys in? Team Captain America or Team Iron Man?


	17. Friends

Sweat rolled down your neck and face as you laid on your back on the weight bench. The weights you were bench pressing were straining your arms. You wanted to put them down, but the super-soldier next to you kept encouraging you to continue. 

“Come on (L/N),” Bucky told you, “just one more.” 

“Barnes, I’m going to drop this on your foot if you don’t get this off me,” you replied, struggling. Your arms were starting to slowly drop the weights causing Bucky to swoop in and help you lift them. 

When the weights were safely in their rack, you sat up and wiped the sweat off your face with a towel. “Not all of us can bench press like you, Barnes.” 

“You did good,” Bucky praised. “You’re doing better than when you started.” 

“Are you saying I was terrible before?” you joke as you reach for some water. 

“Just out of practice.” 

After Siberia, Barnes wasn’t as reserved around you anymore, so you asked him to help you get back to a workout routine. You should have realized your mistake in asking a super-soldier for workout tips sooner. He had more stamina than you and sometimes forgot your limits, but at least he wasn’t as bad as Steve. Sam warned you that the Captain was notorious for running laps around others. 

“Has Steve heard anything from his inside source on Monroe?” You ask as you start your cool-down stretches. 

Bucky joined you. “No, but he told them to keep an ear out for any talk about an island.” 

“Hopefully, it’s not a dead end.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why do you hate him so much? What happened between you two?” Bucky watched your falter for a bit before going back to your stretches. Afraid he overstepped, he tried to take it back. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry I was just-” 

“Don’t worry Barnes, you're not the first to ask,” you smiled to reassure him. “Monroe and I had different morals that caused us to clash.” 

“He joined Hydra.” 

You chuckled, “To be honest, I didn’t know it was Hydra at the time. It would have saved us a lot of trouble if I did.” 

“Definitely,” Bucky agreed. 

You both grabbed your stuff and went your separate ways. You were going straight to your room to take a shower, but as you were walking down the hall, you noticed a Witch standing by your door. 

“If you needed to talk you could’ve had Friday call me,” you said walking past her. 

“She said you were in the gym with Bucky, and I didn’t want to interrupt,” Wanda told you.

“Well, I’m free now.” You started to go through your drawers for a change of clothes. “What’s on your mind?” 

“I was hoping we could start our lessons again.” 

“Right,” you said, remembering. “To help you with your powers. Are you sure you still need them?” 

Wanda fiddled with her fingers as she avoided eye contact, “Better safe than sorry.” 

“Sure,” you said, not noticing her behavior. “Is there something, in particular, you want to work on?” 

“I want to practice using my powers for defense.” 

You raise an eyebrow at that. “You mean you want to work on your reflexes?” 

“Yes. Vision has offered his help as well.” 

“Again, I don’t think you particularly need it, but we can give it a try.” 

Wanda let out a relieved sigh and smiled at you. “Could we start tomorrow?” 

You gave her thumbs up and she thanked you before leaving. On her way out you heard her greet someone else and then Stark walked in. 

“I’m guessing you agreed to continue the lessons.” He watched as you took out a pack of cigarettes. 

“Doesn’t hurt to pass on what I know.” As you were going to light your cigarette you notice the smirk on the billionaire’s face. “What?” 

“When you first got here you barely left your room, now you’re spending time with Barnes, and it didn’t take long for Wanda to convenience you into helping her. I think you’re starting to come around.” 

“I won’t stand for these outrageous accusations Stark,” you pretended to be offended. “If you came here just for that, you should get out.” 

Tony laughed and then turned to leave, forgetting why he came here in the first place. “Admit it, you’re coming around.” 

Once he was gone you crossed your arms as you took a puff of your cigarette. You remember your conversation with Fury your first night at the compound. You had told him you weren’t here to make friends yet here you were. Since Siberia, you have grown fond of at least two Avengers, and you will admit some of the others don’t get on your nerves anymore. 

You shake your head getting the thought out of your head. “No, not happening. There are no friends in this line of work.”


	18. Burn

Wanda ducked, as a rock flew past her head. “Can you two slow down!” 

You took a sip of your drink as you gestured for Vision to throw another one at her. “Your enemies aren’t going to slow down just because you can’t keep up.” 

The three of you were in a clearing away from the compound so that you could have more privacy. As well as to not accidentally break any more of the compound’s windows. 

“Do you really believe throwing rocks on her is going to help her learn,” Vision asked. 

“Do you want to try a car,” you deadpanned. 

“I suppose rocks are fine.” 

Wanda dodges another one of Vision’s rocks and puts her hands up in surrender. “Can I please use my powers now. I’m starting to get tired here.” 

“Fine, but Vision gets to turn up the speed and accuracy.” 

Following your instructions, Vision starts tossing rocks at her faster and with better aim. With her powers, Wanda was able to keep up and stopped the rocks midair before they could touch her. Red tendrils of magic danced around her hands as she smiled at the two of you. “Maybe you were right (Y/N). Maybe I don’t need- Ow!” 

The rocks she had been holding up suddenly dropped to the ground as Wanda jumped back and grabbed her calf. Vision turned and noticed you tossing a pebble up and down with your right hand as you continued to sip your drink with your left. 

“Was that necessary,” Wanda complained. The pebble you threw at her hadn’t caused any damage but surprised her. 

You grin at her. “Never let your guard down.” 

Wanda’s eyes flash red and then the drink in your hand splashes onto you. You frown as the liquid rolls down your clothes. 

“Maybe we should also work on that temper.” 

“Temper,” Wanda laughs. “I don’t think I’m the one with the temper.” 

You roll your eyes as you try to dry off your shirt without burning the fabric. “Toss her some more Vision.” 

Vision grabbed some more rocks lying around, but before he could resume his task Wanda cut in. “Can we up the stakes? I think it’s obvious I can dodge some rocks.” 

You reach behind you and take out a Glock from your waistband. Vision is visibly concerned as he notices the firearm in your hand. “I don’t think purposely putting Wanda in the line of fire is such a good idea.” 

“Relax,” you tell him as you show him your ammunition. “It’s just a BB gun. The worst that can happen is she loses an eye.” 

“There are four deaths per year due to BB guns,” Vision states. You forget sometimes that he's a walking encyclopedia and filled with random knowledge.

“Fun,” Wanda tells you sarcastically. 

“Oh, calm down you big baby,” you tease. “I’ve seen you stop real bullets; this should be a piece of cake.” 

You put some distance between you and Wanda and make sure she’s ready before firing. With her magic, your ‘bullets’ don’t even get two feet close to her. 

You try aiming at her arms and legs to avoid injuries, but Wanda’s powers keep her safe. You must admit that in her position you wouldn’t have been able to come out without getting hit at least once. Her magic was powerful and appeared chaotic at times but with her on the reins, it was precise and strong. Wanda Maximoff was truly a force to be reckoned with. 

Once your gun signaled it was empty, you put it down and smiled at the witch. But before you could praise her you felt a sharp sting on your leg. “Really?!” 

Wanda grinned, “Payback’s a bitch.” 

You lifted your pant leg and noticed the red mark indicating where the BB had hit you. 

“At least you did not lose an eye,” Vision tried to reassure you. 

“Real funny,” you say rubbing your leg. “We’re done for today.” 

“Are we finishing early because you're upset,” Wanda teased. 

“No,” you defended, “We’re finishing early because you did well today. Your reflexes are fine. You just have to work on keeping your guard up.” 

“So, you wouldn’t mind testing it out with your powers.” 

You turn to her confused, “What?” 

“Can you use your powers to spar? With my powers, I’ll be able to protect myself-” 

“No,” you tell her firmly. “No way I’m doing that. I’m not going to spar with my powers and I’m definitely not going to use it to shoot fire at you.” 

“I agree with (Y/N),” Vision cuts in. “It’s dangerous and could cause you serious harm.” 

“We’ve sparred before,” Wanda points out. “I kicked your ass.” 

“I wasn’t using my powers,” you say pointing at yourself. “You can’t play with fire and expect not to get burned.” 

“Fine no sparring, just throw some flames at me.” 

You looked at her like she was crazy, and with what she was suggesting you were starting to think she was. “You’re going to get yourself killed.” 

“Or just burn off my eyebrows,” she tried to lighten the mood, but both you and Vision were not amused. “I can hold back bullets and rocks; I also want to make sure I can hold back something like fire.” 

“What is your obsession with perfecting your powers,” you ask, crossing your arms. “It’s more than just a fear of hurting someone. It’s something else.” 

“I…,” Wanda takes a deep breath, “I want to be able to protect people, especially those I care about. From bullets or fire, I want to make sure I’m strong enough to stop something from happening to them.” 

You sensed the reason for this was due to trauma or a loss she had to deal with. You didn’t want to pry, it wasn’t your place, but you also weren’t sure how to comfort her. Thankfully, Vision stepped up. 

“What happened to Pietro wasn’t your fault, Wanda. We can’t protect everyone from everything, not even we are that strong,” he told her. 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t try.” Wanda turned to you, determined as ever. “If it gets too dangerous, we can stop. Please just let me try.” 

You looked over at Vision who was shaking his head, then back to Wanda who looked at you pleadingly. “...Fine.” 

Vision continued to protest even when you and Wanda were already in position. You told him if he was worried to just stay close by so that he could extinguish any flames. 

“Ready?” you asked the witch. She nodded as she got her powers ready. 

You didn’t want to push your luck, so you simply started with a small ball of fire. You threw it to her like a pitcher and she caught in midair like she had done to the rocks earlier. Her magic was able to contain the flames and allow it to continue to burn. Showing off, Wanda tossed the ball of fire between her hands like you would. 

“At least we know your magic is fireproof. Let’s hope you are too,” you quip. 

Wanda lets the fire die, and you shoot another at her. Each time you do the flames get a little bigger, but you don’t want to go too far. 

“Come on (Y/N),” Wanda taunts, “you can do better than that.” 

You sigh as flames consume your hands. “Please don’t make me regret this.” 

You send a blast of fire straight at her. It wasn’t your strongest, but it would have still done some damage if Wanda hadn’t created a barrier on time. Her shield protected her from the flames, but Vision still looked nervous. 

You pick it up a notch and throw a stronger blast. This time Wanda does falter a bit but keeps up her shield. 

“Perhaps take it down a notch,” Vision suggested. 

“No, keep going,” Wanda tells you. “Faster.” 

You don’t raise the heat anymore, but your attacks are more frequent, forcing Wanda to keep her barrier steady. From where you were standing you couldn’t tell the strain Wanda was on. She didn’t give any sign she needed a break, so you kept going. That’s when something happened. 

Your attacks were mostly centered as you were aiming in the same place. Wanda let some of the barrier shrink so that she could focus on where you were concentrating your powers. That’s when she let her guard down. 

The moment you heard Wanda scream and her shield fall you extinguished your flames and rushed over, Vision not far behind. Wanda was on the ground holding her left ankle. Her shoe and pant leg was charred and the skin under was blistered. When she let her shield shrink, some of your flames must have caught her foot. 

“I told you this was a bad idea!” you scold her as you look over her wounds. You hear a sob escape her and tears run down her face, making you feel immediate guilt. 

“It looks like a second-degree burn,” you say as you notice the blisters on Wanda’s skin. You look over at Vision, “Only one of us can fly. Carry her to the med bay quickly.” 

Vision grabbed Wanda, bridal style, and flew her to the compound as fast as he could. You were left behind in the clearing by yourself. 

Alone, angry, and guilty you couldn’t help but scream in frustration. At the sudden rush of emotion, your hands erupted into flames and you took it out on a nearby tree, blasting a hole in the trunk. When you were done you made sure to extinguish any flames and then made your way back to the compound. 

Once you arrived you went to the med bay to check up on Wanda, but the way was blocked by some of the Avengers who must have heard what happened. You weren’t allowed to get near the door as Clint got up in your face. 

“What did you do?” You were taken aback by his hostile tone. You’ve never heard Clint speak to you in that way much less glare at you. 

“What-” 

“She was rushed in with a burn and you were with her, so what did you do?” 

“So, you just automatically think I hurt her on purpose?” you ask defensively. 

“How the hell did she get burned then?!” 

Before Clint could take a step closer, Vision pushed him back. “It was a training accident, Clint.” 

You tried to explain what happened before things could escalate. “She asked me to use my powers and-” 

“You should have known better than to agree. You know you’re dangerous, you shouldn’t have been around her,” Clint told you. There was a tense silence after Barton’s outburst. 

You felt your hands grow warm, but you knew using your powers would only prove his point. You simply turned and walked away. A few Avengers tried calling out to you, but you didn’t listen, you simply walked straight to your room. 

You told Friday you didn’t want to be bothered for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I'm not downplaying Wanda's powers too much. She's clearly one of the strongest of the team power-wise, but it's for the good of the story for now.


	19. Midnight Snack

You slowly opened your bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. It was late, so all the lights were off in the wing where the rooms were. Wearing pajamas, you quietly walked towards one of the doors down the hall. Once you got to the room you were looking for, you lightly knocked. 

“Who is it?” someone asked from the other side of the door. 

“It’s (Y/N) ... can I come in?” you whisper. There’s a click sound indicating the door was unlocked by Friday, and you walk in. 

Inside, you see Wanda sitting up on her bed with her left ankle on top of a few pillows. She smiled, but you couldn’t help but frown when you saw the bandages. 

“How are you feeling?” you ask as you sit down on the other side of her bed. 

“It stings sometimes, but the ointment the doctor gave me helps.” 

You took a deep breath as you nervously fiddled with your fingers. “Wanda, I’m- I’m sorry about what happened. I should have known better than to use my powers. It’s-” 

“It’s not your fault,” Wanda interrupted. “I pressured you into it, and I should have stopped when I realized I couldn’t take it.” 

You gave her a small smile. “I guess we both messed up.” 

She laughed. “Yeah, I guess we did.” 

Wanda tries to lighten the mood. “I was a little hurt you didn’t visit me in the med bay.” 

“I- You seemed like you had a lot of people fussing over you already. I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” you lie. 

“At least you’re here now.” 

You look at the clock on her nightstand, “Yeah, but it’s getting late. You should get some rest.” 

You reached out to touch her but stopped halfway and just stood up. “Goodnight, Wanda.” 

Wanda noticed your hesitation but didn’t mention it as you walked out of the room. “Goodnight, (Y/N).” 

While you slowly closed Wanda’s door behind you, you noticed a figure walking your direction. You didn’t want to stop and talk, but it was already too late. 

“(Y/N)?” Bucky asked. 

You internally groaned. You like Barnes, you just weren’t in a mood to chat. “Hey, Bucky. What are you doing awake at this hour?” 

“I’m heading to the kitchen. What about you?” Bucky glances at the door you were standing in front of and then back at you. You could physically see the dots connecting in his head as his eyes widened and he made a quiet oh sound. “You and-” 

“Woah, I’m going to stop you right there.” You put your hands up defensively. “I was simply checking up on her.” 

Bucky chuckled and then gestured for you to follow him. He leads you into the kitchen where he starts going through the fridge while you hop onto the counter. “I heard about what happened with Clint. I’m sure he didn’t mean what he said, he’s just a little protective of Wanda.” 

“He’s right,” you say bluntly, taking the soldier by surprise. “My powers are dangerous, that means so am I.” 

“What happened to not being afraid of hurting others?” he asked. 

You shrugged as you watched him take out the ingredients for a sandwich. “I’m not afraid of my powers going out of control and hurting someone. It’s just that…” 

“You’re afraid of them thinking otherwise,” Bucky finished. “You don’t want everyone to be afraid of you.”

“Took the words right out my mouth.” 

Bucky hummed. “I know how you feel. When I first started living here, everyone treated me like a ticking time bomb. Nobody trusted me like Steve, but even he would make sure to be cautious around me.” 

“It seems like it got better for you.” 

“They don’t hate me for being dangerous anymore; they just hate me in general,” he joked. 

You laughed, “At least now they tolerate you.” 

Bucky handed you one of the sandwiches he made and smiled. “It’s better to be tolerated than feared I guess.” 

“Amen.” 

You took a bite of the sandwich and looked at Bucky, impressed. “Not bad, Barnes.” 

He chuckled and took a bite of his own. “Good food can always make you feel better.”


	20. Thunder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this story, Asgard didn't blow up.

Panicked, you jumped behind a crate for cover. Gunfire was raining down on you from all sides. You were running out of ammo, and your chances of getting out of here were looking grim. 

“Looks like you’re in a tight spot.” You look up and see Monroe smiling up at you. The cut on his lip, from your last mission, was healed up, but a scar was now in its place. 

“It’s a relief to see you’re still in one piece.” You turned your back to him to search for an exit. “I think if we stay on the east side, we’ll be able to get by without anyone noticing.” 

You heard a gun cocking close by. Instinctively you turned towards the noise just to come face to face with the barrel of a gun. On the other end, your partner looked at you with a sad expression. “I’m sorry (N/N).” 

With a loud bang, you sat up in your bed covered in sweat and gasping for air. Your hands were shaking, and your covers were thrown all over the place. It took a moment for your senses to adjust to the darkroom, but when they did you relaxed. 

“You’re in the Avenger’s compound,” you remind yourself. “You’re safe.” 

Once your breathing was under control you walked into your bathroom and splashed some water on your face. As the water hit your skin it would turn to steam and evaporate, meaning your temperature was running hot. It wasn’t uncommon, but it was best to take it easy. 

“What was that sound?” you asked Friday. A loud bang had been what had woken you up from your nightmare. 

“A guest has arrived,” Friday answered. “They are in the living area if you would like to meet them.” 

You change your clothes and go out to see who the cause of all the commotion was. 

The first thing you heard when you walked into the room was his laughter. It was loud and deep, like thunder. Then you noticed his stature, he was easily the biggest guy in the room. He had short brown hair, a trimmed beard, and an eyepatch. In his hand, he had a large weapon resembling a battle ax. 

When he noticed you, his eyes lit up, and smiled. “That must be them.” 

You fidgeted with your hands and glanced at the other Avengers. “What?” 

Before anyone could introduce you, the man walked up to you and picked you up in his arms. You had the air squeezed out of you as he hugged you tight. “You are the one who has been watching over my friends.” 

“You’re going to crush them, Thor,” Natasha warned. 

“My apologies.” Thor puts you back down. 

You cough and stare at him in amazement. “Thor? As in god of thunder?” 

“King of Asgard too, if I’m correct,” Steve says. 

Thor nods, “Yes, I took the throne after my father passed. That’s why I could not visit sooner, I have many responsibilities in Asgard now.” 

“Bruce told us you two went through a lot while we were… occupied here on Earth.” 

Thor gave his friend a playful glare. “Yes, I heard of that. If I was there, I would have knocked some sense into all of you.” 

“Maybe that’s what we were missing,” Tony jokes. 

Feeling out of place you let the team get reacquainted with their old friend. You slipped into the kitchen where you got yourself something to drink. You were still feeling the effects of the nightmare and didn’t think you would be good company right now. 

You could hear the laughter coming from the other room as you leaned against the counter. A small part of you was jealous. All of them were having a good time as you bitterly stood in the kitchen.

“You’re in a bad mood.” You turn to see Wanda walking in with crutches, her foot still bandaged. 

“And you should be resting,” you shoot back. 

“It was getting boring up in my room.” 

You simply hummed as you took another sip of your drink. You were craving a smoke, but Stark would scold you for doing it indoors. 

“You had a nightmare,” Wanda said abruptly. 

“What are you, my mother?” you grumbled. 

“No, my powers help me tell when someone’s mind is in distress. Something isn’t letting you sleep.” 

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” 

She knew you were lying but didn’t press the topic. “If you need help getting a good night’s sleep, you know where to find me.” 

When she left you went to the sink to wash your hands. Like before, the second the water hit your skin it evaporated as if it was on a hot pan. Knowing your temperature was rising, it was best if you cooled off. A cold shower would surely help you feel better. 

As you headed back to your room, Thor called out to you. “(L/N)! Won’t you stay awhile?” 

“I would love to, but I’m not feeling too well.” 

“Are you sick?” Bruce asked. 

“Probably just a cold,” you say waving him off. “They make my powers act up sometimes.” 

“I can go check up on you later.” 

“I can handle it on my own. Besides,” you glance at a certain archer, “I wouldn’t want to put anyone in danger.” 

Clint was going to say something, but you already left.


	21. Fever

You shivered as you huddled into your blankets. Though you were drenched in sweat, you felt cold, something you haven’t felt since you went swimming in Siberia. You were right before, you were sick, but it wasn’t a simple cold. 

You were only sick like this once before. It had caused your powers to act up and your apartment nearly burned down. If you can control yourself until your fever breaks, then you won’t have to worry. 

“Your temperature is rising at an alarming rate,” Friday tells you. “I’m contacting the Med-bay.” 

“N-no,” you stutter. “I’m fine.” 

Friday doesn’t say anything after that, but you’re sure she ignored you because you hear a knock at your door. “(Y/N), are you okay?” 

“Yes, I’m fine,” you insist stubbornly. 

Despite that, Bruce steps into the room and looks at you in concern. “You should have told me it got worse.” 

“I’m fine.” You try to sit up despite your aching muscles. “I was just feeling a little under the weather.” 

He rolls his eyes. “You’re not fooling anyone. You’re a pale, sweaty mess.” 

“You’re not so handsome yourself,” you shoot back. 

As Bruce pushes you back down, he presses his hand to your forehead. The instant his hand touched your skin, he recoiled. “Jesus, you’re burning up.” 

“That is my normal temperature.”   
“No, it’s worse.” Bruce helps you take a drink of water and looks over you with concern. “How does being sick affect your powers?” 

“They spike occasionally.” 

“How.” 

You answer his question by sneezing, making your hand burst into flames. You put it out quickly. “That’s how.” 

“I’m going to go get some medicine for you.” 

“I’m not going anywhere.” 

With him gone, you were left alone. Or so you thought. 

“You look like shit.” 

You look up and see a familiar figure with black hair and green eyes. He was sitting on the edge of your bed, yet his presence didn’t alarm you. 

“You’re not real,” you say. You were already in a miserable state, seeing Monroe wasn’t going to make you feel any better. 

“You’re right, I’m just a fever-induced hallucination,” he responds. “One that you chose.” 

“Not willingly.” 

He scoots closer and presses the back of his hand to your forehead. Unlike Bruce, he doesn’t recoil, but you also don’t feel his skin touch yours. “No, I’m straight out of your subconscious.” 

“Why you?” you ask it as you continue to shiver. 

“I’m just a hallucination. I know as much as you,” he answers. 

“Go away then.” 

“That’s not usually what you say to someone who brought you medicine.” You look to the door and see Bruce with a tray of medicine and water. 

“I wasn’t saying it to you,” you defend. 

Bruce looks around the room and then back at you. “Who were you speaking to then?” 

“Doesn’t matter.” 

As Bruce hands you some pills, you notice Monroe reappear at the foot of your bed. You scowl at him, making Bruce raise an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?” 

“How bad would it be if I started seeing things?” You ask. 

“Very bad.” 

“Then maybe we should be concerned.” 

Bruce’s eyes widen, “We need to get you to the Med-bay.” 

“No.” 

He looks at you confused. “(Y/N), you need medical attention.” 

You shake your head and take off your covers. “Help me get to the bathroom.” 

Bruce helps you, thinking you needed to throw up or just had to relieve yourself, but as he is about to walk out, he sees you turn on the bathtub. “What are you doing?” 

“Taking a bath.” 

Bruce wants to protest, but a bath might help you with the fever. Again, he is about to leave, but when he glances back at you his eyes widen in disbelief. “What are you doing now?” 

While still in your clothes, you step into the bathtub and sit down. The water hisses as it touches your skin and steam fills the room. 

Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, yet he can’t help but laugh. “You’re a hazard (L/N).” 

You laugh with him. “So, I’ve been told.” 

“Are you sure that’s all you need?” 

“Ice.” 

“What?” 

“I need lots of ice.” 

“I’ll see what I can do. Please do not drown while I’m gone.” 

You give him a lazy salute as he finally leaves. You took the chance to close your eyes for a bit. 

“You look peaceful.” You look up expecting to see Monroe, but instead, you see a blonde archer. You’re confused by your disappointment. 

“This is a private bathroom,” you tell him. 

Clint avoids your gaze, “Heard you were sick.” 

“It depends on who you ask. I think I’m perfectly fine.” You sneeze making your shirt light on fire. “Maybe it’s too dangerous for you to be here.” 

Clint rolled his eyes. “Okay, I deserve that one…” 

“And the one before that one.” 

“Listen (Y/N) ... I’m sorry about what I said. I get a little protective of Wanda at times, and I wasn’t thinking straight.” 

You sneeze again, causing your shoulder to ignite. You lazily pat it away and look back at him. “Barton, I would never willingly hurt any of you.” 

“You’re not dangerous. I think you have more control over your powers than anyone in this whole building. Though not at the moment.” 

You chuckle, “I haven’t been sick like this in a long time.” 

“What caused it?” 

“Who knows? I just want it to go away.” 

“Hope we’re not interrupting.” Bruce walks into the bathroom with Thor behind him. The god was holding a large bucket with ice in it. 

“(L/N), I am sorry to hear you are not feeling well,” Thor told you. 

“Don’t worry about it. Once this fever goes away, I will be good as new,” you reassure. 

“Put in there, Thor,” Bruce instructs. 

Thor stares at the bathtub confused. “Won’t that harm them?” 

“Trust me, they can handle it.” 

Thor carefully poured the ice in the tub. You shivered a bit, but overall, the cold was helping lower your temperature. Thor looked in wonder as most of the ice melted, and the bathroom resembled a steam room. He wasn’t familiar with your powers like the others. 

“You have great power,” Thor complimented. “When you get your strength back, I would like to spar with you.” 

“I’m sure they will,” Clint answered. “Let’s let them rest for a while first.” 

Clint gives you a nod as he escorts the god of thunder out. Bruce stays behind. 

“How are you feeling?” the doctor asks. 

“Better,” you admit. “Thank you.” 

Bruce touches your forehead but doesn’t recoil this time. “Your temperature should be able to kill a person, yet I think it’s normal for you.” 

You hum as you sink lower into the tub. “Isn’t that great.” 

After soaking in the water for a while, you changed out of your wet clothes and got back into bed. Bruce gave you some more medicine and left you to rest. Your fever was down, and your head didn’t hurt as much. Your nose was stuffy, and your body ached, but it was an improvement from earlier. Being sick was a pain, but at least your body was less resistant to sleep. Once your head hit the pillow, you knocked out.


	22. Quitting

You looked around your room for your pack of cigarettes, but you couldn’t find it anywhere. When you were sick you had quit for a while, but the nicotine withdrawals and cravings were tough. Since the doctors cleared you, you have been persistently looking for a smoke but couldn’t find any. When you came to the compound you had quite a few with you and would regularly buy more, but right now there wasn’t a sign of one anywhere. 

When you moved into the kitchen, desperately looking through the drawers, Steve gave you a weird look. “What are you looking for?” 

“My cigarettes. Have you seen a pack here?” 

“You should-” 

“Quit, yes I know,” you cut him off, annoyed. “I’ll get to that eventually.” 

“You’re not going to find any,” Natasha commented. You stopped and turned to her. 

“Why?” 

“Bruce and Wanda got rid of all of them.” 

“What?!” 

“They went around the compound and threw away all of them.” 

You stomped out of the kitchen and into the lab where you caught Banner and Stark off guard. You didn’t bother to say any hellos as you walked up to Bruce and glared at him. “Where are they?” 

Instead of being intimidated, Bruce smiled. “I have no idea what you are talking about?” 

“My cigarettes, Banner. Where did you hide them?” 

“Again, I don’t know-” 

“Banner, “you practically growled in anger, “Where are they?” 

Determined, he didn’t give in, even when he noticed your hands start to heat up. “I don’t know.” 

You took a deep breath to calm yourself down. You had to be reasonable. “Okay, Banner, I can play that game too.” 

You stomped out of the lab, leaving Tony and Bruce alone again. Tony turned to his lab partner looking amused. “Where’d you hide them?” 

Bruce opened his desk drawer and took out a pack. “You want to help me get rid of them?” 

After that, it was an all-out war. You went to the store and bought multiple packs of cigarettes. You hid them around the compound, so you always had one on hand. If any of the Avengers caught you smoking, they would take it away and put it out. At one point you started doing your smoking out in the woods nearby. They would pick your pockets and even search you when you came back to the compound. 

“You’re too calm right now,” Natasha noticed as you lounged around in the living area. 

You had a small smile on your lips and your feet were resting on the coffee table. “I’m having a good day.” 

She squinted her eyes at you. “You haven’t gone outside so you haven’t had a smoke.” 

“That’s what you think,” you teased. 

“There’s no way you got out of here without us noticing,” Steve said putting his newspaper down. 

“There’s a good statistical possibility that they were able to slip away many times,” Vision commented. 

“But we got rid of all their smokes.” 

“Did you really?” you asked. 

That’s when they practically started tearing the compound apart. Natasha patted you down, while Steve and Vision looked under furniture. They then alerted the rest of the team who started going through your room and your usual hiding places. You stayed in the living area as you watched them scramble around the place. 

The only one not looking was Rhodes. He sat next to you on the couch. “You haven’t been smoking.” 

“Why do you say that?” you ask. 

He lifted your short sleeve, exposing the nicotine patch on your arm. “I noticed it a few days ago.” 

“Yeah, I’ve just been buying packs because I enjoy watching them try and find them.” 

“They do take things too far sometimes.” 

“Why do you all care so much anyway?” 

“Whether you’re willing to admit it or not (L/N), you’re a part of this team now. A team cares about each other. ...also, second-hand smoke is a thing.” 

“Fair enough.” 

“There’s nothing in their room!” you hear Clint shout as he runs past you. 

“How long do you think it’ll take for them to figure it out?” Rhodey asked. 

You shrugged. “I’ll give them a day.”


	23. Planning

“Only assholes buy private islands, that’s why I haven’t bought one,” Tony said as a satellite image of an island appeared on the screen in the meeting room. 

The Avenger’s inside source had managed to follow a lead on Monroe’s island. Its coordinates said it was located somewhere in the Pacific. From the satellite images, you could see the island was made up mostly of undeveloped land and had a large jungle environment. The only man-made structures were on the beach on the east side of the island. 

“It has a Bond villain vibe to it,” Clint commented. 

You shrugged. “Owning an island was always on his bucket list. ...Maybe that was a red flag.” 

“It was definitely a red flag,” Natasha replied. 

Steve crossed his arms as he stared at the screen. “What do we know about this place?” 

Tony zoomed the screen in. “The place is completely off the grid. It managed to stay off our radar because it was disguised as some sort of wildlife sanctuary.” 

“It can’t be completely clean,” Sam said. 

“That’s what I thought,” Tony said, snapping his fingers. “That’s why I did some more digging.” 

Images of bank statements, police reports, and newspaper articles filled the screen. “There have been whispers of shady stuff happening on the island. It never caught any traction because people were probably threatened or paid off.” 

“What type of shady stuff?” you asked. 

“The rumor was drug trafficking because there were a lot of boats coming in and out its docks.” 

“It was actually weapon trafficking, but close enough, I guess.” 

“Do we know anything about the layout?” Rhodey asked. “Or on the security?” 

“Tony is going to get us some more clear pictures of the surrounding area,” Steve answered. “When it comes to security we’re going to have to go in blind.” 

Bucky leaned back in his seat. “We can end up being completely outnumbered.” 

“That’s what’ll make it fun,” you told him sarcastically. 

“What’s our tactic?” Clint asked. “We go in guns blazing again?” 

“Is that always your go-to?” Wanda asked. 

Tony shrugged, “It gets the job done.” 

“Can I offer a different approach,” Natasha said, catching everyone’s attention. “Monroe always manages to get away because he has an escape plan for when he sees us coming. This time why don’t we catch him off guard and go in with a more subtle approach.” 

“That’ll be harder to do with no inside knowledge of the place. Not even your spy on the inside has stepped foot on the island,” you countered. 

“But it’s better than giving him a heads up and allowing him to escape. We can’t risk him getting away this time,” Bucky said, agreeing with Natasha. 

Thor, who had been silent, stepped forward. “This Monroe guy has been able to avoid capture. Why’s that?” 

“He’s diabolical,” Clint jokes, making you roll your eyes. 

“He’s a narcissist with high-level Shield training,” you corrected. “He knows how the system works and has powerful people in his corner. Plus, you guys haven’t been on the top of your game for a while.” 

“We’re working on that,” Steve defended. 

Rhodey cut in. “(L/N) is right, we’ve had trouble working together and it’s allowed Monroe to get away. We all need to agree on what we’re going to do next.” 

With some more discussion, you all ended up agreeing to take a more stealthy approach in raiding Monroe’s island. As Natasha said, it was your best bet at really catching him off guard. 

The plan sounds simple at first. In a week, you would silently arrive on the island and apprehend Monroe while avoiding detection and extract him. Once he was in custody, you would be able to shut down his operation and confiscate his product. The problem was that with no inside knowledge, you were going in blind and anything could go wrong. 

Before the meeting ended, Tony looked at his phone and announced, “He’s here.” 

You were confused because the whole team was already present in the room. “Who’s here?” 

“We figured we might need some extra help on this mission,” Steve answered. 

Steve, Tony, Bucky, and you all made your way to the landing pad outside, where you saw a black jet. It was vastly different from the Avengers quinjet, you might even say it was more advanced. 

Two people stepped out of the plane and greeted the others while you hanged back. The older male spoke very professionally to Rogers and Stark, while the younger girl seemed more comfortable around Barnes. 

“This is our new teammate. (Y/N) (L/N),” Steve introduced you. “(Y/N), this is T’Challa, King of Wakanda. He and his sister, Princess Shuri, are going to be helping us.” 

You’ve heard rumors and stories of Wakanda, many that turned out to be true as not so long ago the King had announced that his country would be sharing its knowledge with the world. You also heard stories of the Black Panther, protector of Wakanda, and what he was able to do. You had immense respect for the man. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, the Avengers have told me about you,” he said as he shook your hand. 

“All good things I hope,” you replied. 

“Is it true you can make fire out of thin air?” Shuri asked before you could even say hello. Her brother gave her a look, but you just laughed. 

“Yeah, I can,” you answered. 

“Can you-” 

“Let’s perhaps go inside and get settled first,” T’Challa cut in. 

“Yeah, you can go criticize my lab,” Tony said playfully. 

That got Shuri excited. “Only if you let me improve it.” 

As Shuri walked ahead with Stark as they started debating over technology, T’Challa walked alongside the rest of you. 

“I see you two are on better terms with Stark,” he told Bucky and Steve. 

Steve nodded. “We’re getting there.” 

The king then turned to look at you. “You were recruited due to your expertise on the case, correct?” 

You shrugged, “If that’s what you want to call it.” 

“I read all the reports the team has sent me on Monroe, but I would like to hear it from the source.” 

“Sure, where do you want to start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys seen all the new stuff Marvel announced? I am super excited.


	24. Drinks

Since the whole team was present, Rogers wanted everyone to relax before the big mission. That’s why you were behind the bar serving drinks. 

It brought back memories of your bar before it burned to the ground. You weren’t close with most of the patrons, but you enjoyed talking to them. It was unbelievable what people would say when they had a few drinks in them.

“A vodka shot for the lady,” you said as you passed the shot glass to Natasha.

“You know me so well,” she said as she accepted the drink. “If we were paying you for this, I would have given you a nice tip.”

“I don’t accept anything under fifty,” you joke.

You notice Tony pass by the bar with Pepper by his side, and you call their attention. “What are you two drinking tonight?”

“I’ll just have some water,” Pepper said as she took a seat next to Nat.

“Make that two,” Tony added.

“Are you sure? There’s a fancy bottle of champagne back here.” You still get them their water.

“Hands off that,” Tony told you playfully. “Special occasions only.”

“Does this not count as a special occasion?”

While you talked with Stark, you noticed Pepper whisper something in Natasha’s ear. Whatever she had said seemed to shock the redhead. Nat smiled and pulled Pepper into a hug as they spoke in hushed tones.

Not knowing what that was about, you turned to the princess who had taken a seat by the billionaire. 

“Aren’t you a little young to drink?” Tony asked her.

Princess Shuri grinned, “In Wakanda, I am of legal age.”

“Nice try,” her brother said, walking up behind her. “She’ll have whatever doesn’t have alcohol.”

You passed the Princess a soda as she pouted at her brother. “Why can’t you let me have fun?”

“Would you like me to tell mother about this?” Although his warning was playful, Shuri tensed at the thought of what their mother would say. “That’s what I thought.”

Shuri grabbed her drink and made her escape as she stuck her tongue out at her brother. She was gone before he could retort.

“I’m afraid of the chaos she and Parker are going to cause while we’re gone,” Tony commented as T’Challa took his sister’s seat.

“There is always trouble when those two are together,” the king agreed.

“What’ll you be having?” you asked T’Challa. You’ve bartended for a variety of people, but you’ve never been at the service of a king.

T’Challa took a look at the bottles of alcohol behind you. “What do you recommend?”

“Well-”

Before you could say anything, Clint leaned onto the bar and shouted, “I need a row of shots!”

The archer had had a few drinks beforehand and was tipsy. You would have to cut him off at some point. “Why the urgency?”

“Wilson, just bet me a hundred bucks to a drinking game.”

“You don’t need a hundred bucks,” Tony told him.

“But I do need to defend my honor.”

“Hundred bucks he doesn’t make it past the second shot,” You whispered to Nat as you prepared the drinks.

“He won’t make it past the first,” she replied as she looked at her friend’s intoxicated state.

You passed the shots to Barton and then turned back to T’Challa. “Sorry about that. What did you say you want?”

“I didn’t,” he smiled, “I asked for your recommendation.”

You grabbed a bottle of tequila and a bottle of wine. “It depends on how fast you want to get to tomorrow.”

“I’ll take a shot if you join me.”

“Who am I to deny royalty.” You poured a shot out for you and T’Challa and drank with him.

After that, you two tried to talk about the mission, but Tony shushed you as he glanced at Pepper. She was still deep in conversation with Nat but was close enough that she could hear you.

“She doesn’t know how big this thing is. She thinks it’s a simple recon assignment I’m helping you guys with,” Stark explained in hushed tones.

“Why didn’t you tell her?” You lowered your voice.

“I don’t want her to worry. She wants me to take it easy for a while.”

“Why not sit this one out?” T’Challa asked, also whispering.

“We can’t risk it. We’ve been trying to catch Monroe forever now, and I have to see it through.” You wanted to offer the stressed billionaire a drink, but alcohol wouldn’t fix his dilemma. He cared enough about Pepper to feel guilty about lying to her, but you also understood his determination to go.

“She’s bound to find out, wouldn’t lying just make it worse?”

Tony ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. “That’s future-Tony’s problem. Trust me; it’s better if she finds out later.”

T’Challa didn’t press the matter as he took his leave and went off to find his sister. Soon Tony, Pepper, and Natasha followed his lead, leaving you alone behind the bar. You passed the time cleaning glasses as you did in your old job.

“Brings back memories, doesn’t it,” someone spoke. You turned to see not one but two familiar faces. Without asking, you passed them their usual drinks. 

“You fit right in with the team,” Hill said as she took a drink of her beer.

“They’ve grown on me,” you admitted. 

“What happened to that bullshit about not making friends?” Fury asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Maria laughed as she listened to you and Fury go back and forth. It reminded her of your days in Shield. You were never afraid to talk back to Nick, even when he was your boss. She had seen you change after you gained your powers, but thankfully a part of the old you was still there.

“I have to admit,” she said, grabbing your attention, “Fury was right. You and the Avengers are good for each other. I haven’t seen the time this close in years.”

You rolled your eyes at her. “Please don’t make it sound so sappy. You’re going to make me barf.”

You spent a good portion of the night catching up with the two of them. You know Maria was around the compound often, but you hadn’t crossed paths. Fury only seemed to appear when you were having a tough time. It’s like he has a radar for that type of stuff.

Unlike when you first got here, Monroe wasn’t constantly on your mind. You set all those things aside for the moment so that you could enjoy a night with your friends. For once, you weren’t thinking about the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to write a small feel-good chapter with everything that's going on. The next chapters are going to take a little longer to finish. Hint: they're going to be similar to the Siberia chapters, but I'm going to try raising the stakes.


	25. Complications

“Why did I have to be on this team,” you complain as you trudge through a sewer. The dirty water came up to your knees and smelled horrendous. 

You were in the sewer system of Monroe’s island. It was the easiest entrance into his base of operations and was the only thing you could find the layout plans for. 

Not everyone wanted to walk around in filth, so the team was split in two. Team-A would be the unlucky bastards who would sneak in through the sewers, and Team-B would stay behind with the jets to provide backup. The members of each team were decided by drawing names out of a hat. It’s easy to say you didn’t come out winning. 

“I don’t know what’s worse,” Natasha told you. “Walking around in shit water or listening to you complain about it.” 

“Oh god, I felt something touch my leg,” you hear Wanda say behind you. 

You grab her hand and continue to lead her forward. “I would joke around and say it’s a snake, but I doubt anything could live in this water.” 

“I’m pretty sure letting it run off into the ocean like this is an environmental violation,” Clint said. 

“Let’s just add it to the list of things Monroe’s going to hell for.” 

You all continued through the dark tunnels until Rogers forced you all to stop. “There’s an opening.” 

You looked up to where he was pointing and saw a manhole cover. “Where does this lead to?” 

“A restroom,” T’Challa told you. Unlike everyone else, his suit protected him from the smell. He was having an easier time down here. 

“Royalty first,” you said, moving out of his way. 

T’Challa effortlessly jumped up and knocked the cover off. Once he was out, he helped pull everyone up. The bathroom was an upgrade to those disgusting tunnels. 

“This is where we split up,” Steve said. “When you find Monroe alert the rest of us and try to stay out of sight.” 

After that, you all went your separate ways. 

You headed towards the highest floor of the main building hoping your instincts would lead you to Monroe. You wanted to be the one to put him in cuffs and drag him out of here. 

“Why does the air conditioning never work in this building?” you hear a voice say down the hall. Thinking fast, you run into a storage closet to avoid running into them. 

“It’s because the generators suck,” another voice responded. 

“It works fine in the boss’s office.” 

“That’s because he’s the boss, you idiot.” 

“I’m sick of staying on this damn island. It’s either always raining or hot and humid. Not to mention all the animals that come out of that damn jungle.” 

“You’re telling me. I found a tarantula on my clothes during a patrol.” 

As their voices faded, you stepped out of the closet and continued your search. Monroe was definitely in this building, meaning you were close. 

Stealth was never your strong suit, yet you had to try for this to work. It meant you had to avoid unnecessary altercations with any guards. So far you were doing a good job, but when you got to two big double doors at the end of a hall, you had no choice. There were two heavily armed guards standing outside, meaning whatever or whoever was inside was important. 

“Would you two mind getting out of my way,” you ask, walking towards them. “I’m not really in the mood to deal with you two.” 

“Freeze!” one of them yelled. “Put your hands up!” 

“I’m guessing that’s a no.” 

Without hesitation, you blasted the guns out of their hands. You could see the fear in their eyes as they dodged your second blast and threw themselves on the ground. 

“You should have listened to me.” You knocked them out and then turned your attention to the doors. 

Melting the lock off, you busted the door open. Inside you found Monroe sitting at his desk, looking at you surprised. 

“(Y/N)?” he asked. He stood up and backed away. “How did-” 

“Captain, I found Monroe on the third floor. His office is the last one on the left,” you spoke into the comms. 

“Restrain him,” Steve told you. “We’re on our way.” 

“Captain?” Monroe questioned. “You’re still working with the Avengers? I thought you would have dropped them by now.” 

“I don’t have to explain anything to you.” You took out a pair of cuffs as you walked forward. “Let’s end this, Johnny.” 

Monroe gave you a cocky smile as he pressed a button on his desk. Before you could stop him, a siren went off throughout the building, followed by flashing lights outside. He assumed he had the advantage now. 

Instead of reacting as he wanted, you spoke into your comms again. “Stark, you and your team are up.” 

“About time,” Tony responds. 

You look out at the large windows in the office and see a familiar suit of armor in the sky followed by Falcon, War Machine, and Vision. You assume the rest of the non-flying backup is close behind. 

“Looks like I came prepared this time,” you tell your old friend. 

This time Monroe truly looks worried. “Come on (N/N). Cut me some slack for old times' sake.” 

“Not happening, Johnny. Time is up; you have to face the consequences. 

A small part of you was enjoying the look of fear on his face. The last time you met, he had been so overconfident, but now he resembled a cornered animal. 

“I won’t go down without a fight,” he told you. 

“I’m counting on it.” 

He jumps over his desk knocking everything over. He tries to run past you towards the exit, but you tackle him to the ground. He tries to shove you off him, but you manage to pin him down with a hand on his throat. 

“I can’t kill you, no matter how much I want to,” you admit, “but I can make this hurt.” 

Jonathan feels your hand heat up and stops struggling. “You must feel pretty strong with all that power.” 

“Shut up,” you growl at him. 

“You could- ack!” he gagged as you put pressure on his throat. 

“Seriously, shut up.” 

You reached for your cuffs again, but you left yourself vulnerable for a second, and Monroe took advantage. He freed one of his hands and elbowed you in the face. You heard a loud thud, and an intense pain filled your nose. You let go of him as blood started to gush down your face. 

“Sorry (N/N), but you’re not giving me much choice.” Monroe rummaged through his desk as you stumbled around holding on to your nose. 

Before you could recover, he lunged at you and stabbed you in the neck with a needle. You pushed him away and took the needle out. 

“What the hell did you do?!” you shouted. 

It suddenly felt as though the temperature had dropped, and you were freezing. You dropped to your knees and wrapped your arms around you in an attempt to get warm. Your powers weren’t responding, and you didn’t know why. 

Instead of running, Monroe crouched down next to you. He grabbed your chin and tilted your face towards him. As you shivered, you hated to admit that the warmth of his hand felt nice. 

“I had this serum made after our last encounter. It drops your core temperature making your powers useless. It would kill a normal person, but it should just slow you down.” 

“You’re a son of bitch,” you stutter. Your teeth are chattering as you feel a chill go down your spine. 

“Come on, I’m taking you with me this time.” He tries to pick you up, but you pull away. 

“What is wrong with you?” You ask. “One moment you’re trying to kill me and the next you’re trying to ‘save’ me.” 

“I’ve never tried to kill you, (N/N).” 

You couldn’t help the laughter that escaped you. “You weren’t trying to kill me when you shot me in that warehouse back in Cuba?! Or when you let those bastard doctors experiment on me?! You weren’t trying to kill me when you shot my jet out of the sky in Siberia or sent those mercenaries after me?!” 

“That last one I had nothing to do with,” he defended. “What happened back in Cuba could have been different if you weren’t so stubborn.” 

As he spoke, you grabbed a book that had fallen off Monroe’s desk and used it to smack him in the face with all your force. He fell back on the ground while you forced yourself to your feet. Standing over him, you kicked him a couple of times in the ribs. You would have kept going, but you felt someone hold you back. 

“As much as he deserves it, you need to calm down,” Thor told you. 

You took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” 

Steve ran into the room followed by a few other teammates. He looked at Monroe on the ground and then at you and Thor. “What happened?” 

“Things got complicated,” you told him. He didn’t question it any further as he started to restrain Monroe with Clint’s help. 

Natasha walked over to you concerned. “You’re not looking so hot.” 

You laughed at the irony in her words. “The bastard broke my nose and poisoned me. It won’t kill me, but my powers don’t work.” 

Upon hearing that Clint grabbed Monroe by the collar. “Is there an antidote?” 

Johnny smirked at him. “I remember you. You were one of Fury’s lackeys.” 

“Answer his question?” Thor’s hands sparked with electricity. 

Anyone in their right mind would be intimidated by Thor. “No antidote, but it’s temporary.” 

“Can you walk?” Steve asked. You nodded. “Okay let’s get out of here. Remember the plan.” 

Now that you had Monroe in custody the local government was coming in to take care of whatever was left of his operation. All you had to do was get out of here. 

Rushing through the halls of the building, you made it outside to the beach. Thor and Clint left to help everyone else. You would have booked it to the jets you came in, but you found them completely blown to bits. 

“How long until the local authorities get here to help us out?” you ask. There was heavy gunfire around the whole base, making it feel like a warzone. 

Natasha looked at her watch. “They were stationed far so that they wouldn’t get detected. It might be a couple of hours.” 

“Stark, do you think you can give a quick extraction to (L/N) and Monroe,” Steve spoke into the comms. 

“On my way Captain,” Tony responded. “There’s a lot of-” 

Stark’s transmission cut off suddenly. You looked at the sky and saw his suit of armor, but there was a concerning amount of smoke coming off it. 

“Stark!” you called. “Tony are you hit?” 

There was no response as you watched the Ironman suit hit the sand not far from you. Steve and Natasha rushed towards him, but you kept close to Monroe. 

“I guess those upgrades did come in handy,” he murmured. 

Angry, you punched him in the gut, and he doubled over. “Anything happens to Stark the Avengers are going to tear you apart.” 

You forced him to his feet and dragged him towards your teammates. There you saw Rodgers help Tony out of his armor. His left side was bleeding, and his suit wasn’t in the best shape. 

“Remind me not to bring a prototype out to the field so soon,” he said as he flinched from the pain. 

“You brought a prototype?” Natasha asked, outraged. 

“I thought it was fine, but that blast messed with the system, and there must have been a weak spot in the-” 

“No time for this, Tony,” Steve cut in. “We need to get you somewhere safe.” 

The supersoldier put his friend’s arm over his shoulder and led all of you into the trees. The jungle canopy provided some cover for the moment. 

“Wilson, we got two down,” Natasha reported in the comms. “We need emergency extraction.” 

“The boats in the docks are heavily armed and not letting our ships come close. There are also high-powered turrets on the roofs making flying dangerous. They busted one of my wings and I was grounded.” 

You could see the grin on Monroe’s face as Sam spoke. Although he was in cuffs, he still thought he was winning. You wanted to hit him again, but the poison running through your veins was draining you. 

“We’re going to have to stay put for a while,” Steve said. 

You looked at the base and saw several figures heading in your direction. “I don’t think that’s going to be possible.” 

“Let’s go!” 

Although Steve and Natasha were still in good shape to fight, they didn’t want to take their chances with you and Tony down. So, you moved further into the jungle. 

“Wait,” Nat said, causing everyone to slow down. “If we keep going that direction we’ll be stuck between the jungle and those Hydra thugs.” 

Steve glanced at Stark and saw how tired he was. He wouldn’t be able to keep running like this, but he wouldn’t be able to fight off an attack. 

“Decisions, decisions,” Monroe said mockingly. “What will it be, Captain? Will you take your chance with my men or mother nature?” 

“You need to shut up.” You tore some fabric from his fancy dress shirt and used it as a makeshift gag to stop him from talking. 

Steve sighed as he placed a hand over his comms. “We’re heading further into the island for cover. Use our trackers to come to extract us when the fighting dies down.” 

“Those trackers might lose signal in there, Captain,” T’Challa told him. “The safest bet is to head to the west side of the island, and we can have a ship pick you up.” 

“Getting through this place could take days,” Natasha countered. “Especially with the injured.” 

“You can’t take the chance of turning back. Monroe’s forces know you have taken him there and are targeting your exit. You have to go through.” 

“Those Hydra bastards are willing to die for their stupid cause,” Tony commented. 

You all looked at each other as you debated what to do. Sadly, the sound of gunfire and shouting approaching made your decision for you. 

“We’ll head upriver,” Steve said. 

Monroe mumbled through his gag that you were all crazy, but you ignored him. 

“Travel close to the river that cuts through the island,” T’Challa advised. “It will help us know your position and what route you’re taking.” 

The rest of the team wishes you good luck before the comms start to cut off. 

Steve and Natasha helped carry Tony while you followed behind with Monroe. You let your teammates get ahead of you so that you could whisper to him. “If we don’t get out of here soon, I’m going to kill you.” 

Monroe rolled his eyes as you pushed him forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you guys up for a jungle adventure?


	26. Stuck Together

“Do you need any help-”

“I swear if you don’t shut up, I’m going to slit your throat, Johnathon.”

Monroe puts his hands up innocently as you point your knife at him. You then turn back to the pile of wood you were trying to light on fire. With the humid air of the jungle, it felt impossible. You were missing your powers right now.

Steve had offered to help, but he had already built a temporary shelter for the night. And Natasha was tending to Tony’s wounds. You wanted to prove you were useful even without your powers.

“Having fun there?” Tony asks. As Natasha was patching him up the best she could, he was tinkering with his comms. He was hoping to get some signal.

“I got it,” you told him. Though, you didn’t sound confident about it.

“It’s getting dark.”

“I said, I got it!” With an angry strike, the kindling finally caught a spark. Soon you had a fire going. “What did I say?”

“Congratulations, you’ve invented fire,” Nat said sarcastically. “Now, let me take a look at your nose.”

“It’s fine.” Your nose was throbbing from when Monroe had busted it, but you didn’t want to fuss over it. You believe the medical supplies should be for Tony’s injury.

“(Y/N), you have dried blood all over your face, and it’s bruising badly. Let me take a look at it.”

You sit next to Nat so that she can take a closer look. She helps clean the blood off your face, but when she presses on your nose, you flinch.

“It’s definitely broken,” she tells you.

You glare at Monroe, who’s smiling at you. “You don’t say.”

“I’m going to set it back into place; that should help for now.” Before you can protest, she presses down hard. You curse as you hear a loud pop, and your nose starts hurting again.

“Give me a warning next time!” you shout.

“Don’t be a baby about it.”

“You’ve gone through worse, you'll survive,” Monroe murmurs.

You hear him and can’t help the immense anger you feel at his words. Steve barely has time to hold back before you lunge at Monroe.

“I know you guys have history,” the super-soldier says, “but we still need him. And we’re not going to get out of here alive if we fight each other.”

“You heard the captain, sit,” Monroe taunts. Steve holds you back again, and you finally take a seat away from Johnny.

“What’d you do to get them to hate you so much?” Tony asked Monroe. 

“Leave it alone, Stark,” you warn.

“We’re all stuck together until we get out of here. I’m curious what all the tension is about.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Tony-”

“Did you guys sleep together?” He asked bluntly.

“Tony!”

“Really, Stark?”

Monroe burst out laughing. “I don’t kiss and tell-”

“No, we didn’t. He was like my brother.” His smile falls as you stare at him. “He was like family, but I suppose it wasn’t mutual.”

You abruptly stand up and grab a canteen. “I’m going to get some water.”

You disappear behind some bushes and lean against a tree as your knees buckle under you. Suddenly you start to hyperventilate, and your hands start to shake. You were glad you had stepped away because you didn’t want the others to see you this way. Especially not Johnny. You weren’t going to let him see you shed a tear.

Calming yourself down, you manage to catch your breath. You try to control the shaking of your hand and then stand up. Wiping away your tears, you go get water like you said you would.

You poke a hole in bamboo and collect the water that spills out. As you do that, you start to feel a bit ridiculous. The old you wouldn’t have let themselves get overwhelmed so easily in his presence. They would have laughed at your behavior. Perhaps you were getting soft.

“What are you doing?” You ask Steve as you walk back.

“Making sure he doesn’t try anything while we’re sleeping.” The captain had found some strong vines and was tying up Monroe even though he was already cuffed.

“Are you okay?” Monroe noticed your red eyes and looked at you with concern.

You scowl at him. “Like if you care.”

Steve stands him up and pushes him away before he can respond. “Come on. You get the hammock over here.”

At night the jungle floor comes alive with bugs and predators. So, you all decided to sleep in some improvised hammocks made of branches, vines, and leaves. It was starting to make you nostalgic for Siberia, where Bucky, Wanda, and you had a little more supplies with you. The cave you slept in then was a luxury compared to this.

“I’ll take the first watch,” you offered.

“No offense (L/N), but you’re not in a position to stay up,” Natasha told you. “Get some rest.”

You don’t put up a fight as you climb into your hammock. The poison still running through your veins makes you feel weak, and although it was still humid, the night air made you shiver. You hated this.


	27. Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My editing program is not working so I hope this chapter is readable

Monroe stayed quiet most of the trip but would occasionally comment on something. You would constantly tell him to shut up, but it was Stark who ended up snapping.

Despite his injuries, he grabbed Monroe by the neck and slammed him against a tree. You’ve never seen the man so furious before.

“Tony, let him go,” Steve told him.

“What’s wrong, Stark,” Monroe taunted. “Are you upset you’re out here instead of throwing a party at your big fancy house.”

Tony sneered at him. “Yeah, I am. I should be with my fiance and my baby, but instead, I’m here playing babysitter to an asshole like you.”

“Baby?” Steve asked.

Nat sighed as she moved Stark away before he could hurt himself. “Pepper is pregnant.”

“...congrats?” You weren’t sure if this was the appropriate time, but you didn’t know what else to say. Now that you think back on it, there were some subtle hints when you last saw Pepper.

“So much for the big reveal,” Nat told the billionaire.

“I don’t care,” Tony said, frustrated. “I just want to go home and not be stuck in this stupid jungle.”

Steve put a hand on his shoulder. “I promise you that you will see Pepper again, and you will be there for your child. I swear on it, Stark.”

Tony took a deep breath and kept moving forward. You walked by his side and tried to distract him.

“What are you going to name the baby?” you asked him.

“Pepper has an uncle named Morgan. I like the name.”

“That kid is going to be one lucky baby.”

Tony frowned. “What if I don’t make it out of here? I’ll be letting them down before they’re even born.”

“You heard Rogers. We’re gonna get you out here, trust me.”

You managed to walk a couple more miles before you all started to slow down. You planned to pick up the pace again soon, but then it started to rain. It was pouring bad and was making it hard to continue. The jungle just kept throwing obstacles in your way.

“We’re out of food,” Nat announced. “We’re going to have to find something.”

“I’ll build a small roof to keep out the rain,” Steve offered. “Some banana leaves should work.”

“While Tarzan is doing that, can one of you untie me. I need to use the bathroom,” Monroe said.

You rolled your eyes. “I’ll take him.”

You pushed Monroe until you two managed to make it to the edge of the river. It was far enough where the team couldn’t hear you. The rain also managed to drown out your voices.

“Hurry up,” you said as you loosened his restraints.

He turned away from you and relieved himself. You try not to gag as he sighs dramatically.

When he finished, he bent down next to the water to wash his hands. “So Tony is getting a little mini Stark. Are you going to help him change diapers now?”

“Don’t talk about Stark, and definitely don’t talk about his baby,” you warn him.

“Come on (Y/N). When have you ever liked kids? When have you ever liked anyone?”

“Get up,” You force him to his feet and tie him up again.

He takes advantage of your proximity to whisper in your ear. “Did you miss me by any chance?”

Fed up, you push him into the river bank. Tied up, he struggles to get out of the water. You watch him splash around for a bit before jumping in. 

He thinks you’re going to get him out, but instead, you use all your strength to push his head down. You felt him struggle under you before finally letting him go.

He desperately gasps for air and spits out a lot of water. “You- you can’t kill me! The others won’t let you!”

You had a sudden burst of adrenaline as you dragged him out of the water. While he lied on the muddy bank, you climbed on top of him and started hitting him over and over again. Years of pent-up rage just took over you as you kept connecting your fist to his face.

“I trusted you!” you scream at him. “You betrayed me! You turned your back on me! For what!? For Hydra?! For money and power?!”

You hit him until your fists start to ache and then finally stop. The sound of the rain and the roaring river is deafening, but you can hear him struggle to breathe under you. You’re covered in mud and water, but he has blood running down your face and a now swollen eye.

Panting, you finally get off him and just sit by his side. He flinches but doesn’t try to get up. You both just stay there for a few minutes before he finally speaks.

“Hydra promised me so many things,” he told you. “Money and power were just some of it.”

“Was Shield not enough for you to refuse?” you asked him. “Was I not enough?”

He looks up at you with his one good eye. “We were never going to get far in Shield. We were Fury’s war dogs. He would send us out to blow stuff up and cause chaos. I was tired of it (Y/N).”

“Is Hydra any different?”

“At least they’re honest about it.”

“Yeah, because honesty is Hydra’s best policy.”

He lets out a laugh but winces. “I gave you the option to come with me. Back in that warehouse, in Cuba. You had a choice.”

“I wouldn’t call it a choice when you had a gun to my head.”

“You still said no.”

“Of course, I said no! You wanted me to give up my morals for false promises. It’s true Shield wasn’t honest, but at least I knew what I stood for.”

He scoffed and sat up. “Shield, Hydra. There’s no difference.”

“You didn’t just turn you back on Shield. You shot me-”

“The bullet grazed you!” he defended.

“You let them take me!” you screamed, getting angry again. “They tortured me! They experimented on me! They turned me into a monster! I spent days in a room scared out of my mind that I might hurt someone!”

“You got better in time! When I saw you in Siberia you were strong, you were powerful! We could have taken over the world by now!”

You grabbed his collar and pulled him close. “If you wanted power so badly, why didn’t you do it yourself?

“I wasn’t strong enough,” he confessed. “I wouldn’t have survived the procedure.”

You clenched your fist, tempted to take your anger out on him again. You suffered for years because of his selfishness. Years that you spent hating yourself because of what he had done to you. 

You let him go and stood back up. “You didn’t just hurt me physically, Johnny. I couldn’t trust people. I couldn’t go to anyone for help. I was alone because I was afraid others would hurt me as you did.”

You helped him back up. “Physically I got better quickly, but emotionally I’m still healing. I won’t be able to forgive you, Johnny, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep living.”

Monroe was at a loss for words. He would have preferred if you had just hit him again. “(Y/N)... I’m sorry.”

You pat his cheek, making him wince. “I’m not.”

You lead him back to the group, the both of you silent the whole time.

“What took you two so- what happened?” 

Your team looked at the two of you in shock. You were both covered in mud and soaking wet. Your knuckles were bloody and Monroe was bleeding from his head and had a swollen eye. It was easy to say it was a one-sided fight.

“We were just getting some things out the way,” you told them.

Steve wanted to scold you, but Tony cut in. “Someone was bound to do it. It’s only fair it was (Y/N).”

You sat under the little roof Rogers had built and didn’t say anything more. Monroe stopped talking completely. He would occasionally glance up at you but he wouldn’t speak. The team doesn’t know how you did it, but you finally got him to shut up.


End file.
